Calvary
Chapel Bible College
February
24, 2021
Introduction
The letter of Paul to the Romans is considered Paul’s most important
letter. This is why it is placed in front of all his others
writings.
When and Where
The year is around AD 57 or 58
In your Bible, we’d place the writing of this letter around Acts 20:2 –
that’s about when Paul wrote to the Romans from the city of Corinth.
Paul had been in Ephesus for three years, yet when persecution arose, he
makes his way up to Macedonia, writes 2Corinthians at Philippi, and then heads
south to Corinth where he writes his letter to Rome.
What it’s about
We’re going to see the first five chapters dealing with justification,
how a person is made right with God.
The next three chapters will deal with sanctification, the process
where we grow to be more like Jesus.
The next three chapters will unpack the differences between the Jew and
Gentile, and God’s plan for His people.
In the last five chapters, Paul will launch into personal, practical
matters – how do we live as Christians? What does the Christian life look like?
How do we get along with one another?
In building his case for justification, Paul started by showing that
The Gentiles were guilty of sin (ch.1)
The Jews were also guilty (ch.2)
God provided Jesus to pay for our sins (ch.3)
Paul showed that faith like Abraham is all that’s needed for salvation
(ch.4)
Paul showed that it’s reasonable for one person (Jesus) to affect all
mankind, like Adam (ch.5)
Today we move into Paul’s next section: Sanctification
6:1-14 Dead or Alive
:1 What shall we say
then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound?
:1 continue in sin that grace may abound
shall we say – future tense
shall we continue – epimeno (“upon” +
“to remain”) – to stay at or with, to tarry still, still to abide, to continue,
remain; future tense
may abound – pleonazo – to superabound; to increase; be
augmented; this is the same word used in 5:20 to talk about sin “abounding”:
(Rom 5:20 NKJV)
Moreover the law entered that the offense might abound. But where
sin abounded, grace abounded much
more,
Though back in 5:20, Paul did use a different word
for grace abounding:
abounded much more – huperperisseuo –
to abound beyond measure, abound exceedingly
Apparently, this is one of the things that Paul had been accused of
teaching.
These accusations came from Paul’s own teaching such as:
(Romans 5:20 NKJV) Moreover the law entered that the offense might abound. But where sin abounded, grace abounded much more,
When people misunderstood this, they might come to the conclusion that sin “abounding” was a good thing
because it made God’s grace “abound”.
Wouldn’t it make sense then to just sin a whole lot more so God’s grace
could continue to overflow??? Sin is
good. Right???
There are two types of people that will ask this question.
1) The one
who wants to sin, and looks for this to be a good
excuse to sin.
For them, the idea is that “hey, my sin is making God look good!”
2) The legalist who is afraid of
“grace”, what it might do to people, perhaps letting them go wild.
They are afraid that the person who trusts too much in God’s grace, and not
enough in their own good works, end up saying stuff like #1 above.
The problem is that the person who thinks this way hasn’t looked at what is
supposed to really happen when a person has been born again.
They don’t really understand what grace is
all about.
They haven’t learned that grace changes things.
It’s a scary thing to trust in God’s grace.
What if it doesn’t work?
What if they don’t change?
:2 Certainly not! How
shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?
:2 we who died to sin
certainly not – the Greek is, “may it not be”
died – apothnesko – to die; aorist tense – happened in
the past at a point in time.
live – zao – to live, breathe, be among the living
(not lifeless, not dead); future tense
A dead person doesn’t act like a live person.
Unless of course you are a “zombie”.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_d68kyNY0jI
Play up to 1:40
Of course that’s all good and fun if you like
horror movies, but none of it is true.
When a person is “dead”, they are no longer alive to
anything.
We learned from “Pirates of the Caribbean” that “Dead men
tell no tales…”
According to Paul, they don’t sin
either.
This is going to be the theme of the next few verses, what it means to be
“dead” to sin.
He’s going to make the point that we are “dead to sin”, and so the person
who has been truly born again shouldn’t be making sin their constant practice,
their constant way of life.
:3 Or do you not know
that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were
baptized into His death?
:3 do you not know that …
do you not know – agnoeo (“not” +
“know”) – to be ignorant, not to know; not to understand;
present tense
To me, the implication is that this is a truth that needs to be taught, to
be understood.
This is not something that just magically happens to you when you become a
Christian and you just wake up one day with absolutely no inclination to sin.
There is going to be a truth here that will need to be developed, a
lifestyle that needs to be practiced.
:3 baptized into Christ Jesus
baptized – baptizo – to dip repeatedly, to immerse, to
submerge (of vessels sunk); to cleanse by dipping or submerging, to wash, to
make clean with water, to wash one’s self, bathe; to
overwhelm
Not to be confused with bapto (“to dip”). The clearest example that shows the
meaning of baptizo
is a text from the Greek poet and physician Nicander, who lived about 200 B.C.
It is a recipe for making pickles and is helpful because it uses both
words. Nicander says that in order to make a pickle, the vegetable should first be
‘dipped’ (bapto)
into boiling water and then ‘baptized’ (baptizo) in the vinegar solution. Both verbs concern the
immersing of vegetables in a solution. But the first is temporary. The second, the act of baptizing the vegetable,
produces a permanent change.
When used in the New Testament, this word more often refers to our union
and identification with Christ than to our water baptism. e.g.
#Mr 16:16.
‘He that believes and is baptized shall be saved’. Christ is saying that mere
intellectual assent is not enough. There
must be a union with him, a real change, like the vegetable to the pickle!
(Bible Study Magazine, James Montgomery Boice, May 1989).
Is this talking about water baptism, or a spiritual, figurative baptism
into Jesus? The answer is yes. Yes to both.
I believe this is primarily talking about what happens when we become born
again, the union we have with Jesus, and the picture of which we see in the
ritual of baptism.
Water baptism is a picture of this process at work. As you are immersed in the water, you are
identifying yourself with the death of Jesus.
You can be baptized in water and not have this happen. You may have this happen
to you and not yet have been baptized in water.
You may (and hopefully so) have both.
:4 Therefore we were
buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from
the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of
life.
:4 we were buried with Him through baptism
we were buried with – sunthapto (“with”
+ “to bury, to inter”) – to bury together with
Aorist tense – happened at a point in time in the past.
Instead of one casket being lowered into the ground, there are two
caskets. Not only was Jesus buried, but
so were we.
Somehow, as Christ died and was buried, there is a kind of reality that
says that we were buried with Him.
We see this in the symbolism of baptism, as you are put under the water,
you are being buried.
But baptism is just a picture of what should have already taken place,
identification with the death of Christ.
was raised – egeiro – to arouse, cause to rise; aorist tense
:4 raised from the dead by the glory of the Father
I have yet to do a baptism where I did not bring the person back out of the
water.
Going into the water symbolizes death.
Coming out of the water symbolizes resurrection.
“the glory of the Father” is the
means by which Jesus was raised from the dead, could also be translated
“through the glory of the Father”
The glory, the power of the Father was involved in raising Jesus from the
dead.
We see the pairing of “glory” and “power” in:
(Col 1:11 NKJV)
strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, for all patience and longsuffering with joy;
Is there a connection between our walking victoriously and the “glory of
the Father”?
Paul uses the phrase “just as” – in other words the same thing that was
involved in raising Jesus from the dead should be involved in us walking in
newness of life.
Lesson
Strength from His glory
(Keyword)
Perhaps if we would learn to live more for the glory of God instead of for
our own selfish desires, we would see more victory in our lives.
It’s too easy in life to make “us” the reason we do anything.
We have to be talked into why it’s good for “us” in order to do something.
When a person decides it’s time to quit smoking or
drinking, it’s usually because they decide it’s bad for “them”.
One of my struggles is with losing
weight. Why am I trying to lose
weight? In the past I’ve been
embarrassed by my weight, but as I get older I realize
I need to do it because of my health.
But I really wasn’t thinking about the issue of bringing
glory to God through my choices.
Jesus said,
(Matthew
5:16 NKJV) Let your light so shine before men, that they
may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.
Illustration
J. Vernon McGee writes: “I have had very few real
compliments since I have been a minister, but one I remember well. When I was a
pastor as a student in Georgia, I used to preach in a church on the side of a
red clay hill. One morning after the message everyone left but a country boy.
He wore high yellow shoes that buttoned all the way, and he waited around, as
timid as could be. Finally he came up to me with tears
in his eyes. He took hold of my hand and said, “My, I did not know Jesus was
so wonderful.” He wanted to say something else but
he was too choked with emotion; so he turned and
walked out of the little church. That church today is in the middle of a city,
but in those days it was in the middle of a cotton
patch. I watched that country boy walk across the
cotton patch, and said to myself, “Oh God, let me so preach that people will
know that Jesus is wonderful.” That was a compliment and I have not had many
like it.”
How often am I doing “good works” solely for the purpose of people giving
glory to God?
:4 we also should walk in newness of life
newness – kainotes – newness; apparently this is a
stronger word than just saying “new life”, there’s a greater emphasis on
“newness”.
life – zoe – life
should walk – peripateo (“around” + “to tread”) – to walk; to
make one’s way, progress; literally it means to “walk around”; aorist
The word is in what we call the subjunctive
mood (more about this later). You might
want to circle the word “should”.
A person who is alive, is a person who walks
around. A dead person just lies
there. A person who has been raised from
the dead is one who gets up and walks around.
When we are to be walking around, it is to be with a new life. A completely new life.
Illustration
A raw countryman brought his gun to the gunsmith for repairs. The gunsmith
examined it and found it almost too far gone for repairing.
He said, “Your gun is in a very worn out, ruinous, good-for-nothing condition,
what sort of repairing do you want for it?”
“Well,” said the countryman, “I don’t see as I can do with anything
short of a new stock, lock, and barrel. That ought to set it up again.” “Why,” said the smith, “you might just as
well have a new gun altogether.” “Ah!”
was the reply. “I never thought of that, and it strikes that’s just what I do
want. A new lock, stock, and barrel. That’s about equal to a new gun, and
that’s what I’ll have.”
Man’s nature requires just this sort of repairing.
The old nature cast aside as a complete wreck and good for nothing, and a new
one imparted.
Charles Haddon Spurgeon,
:5 For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we
also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection,
we have been – ginomai – to
become, begin to be; perfect tense – something accomplished in the past
but its effects continue on into the present.
united together – sumphutos (“with”
+ “to be born”) – born together with, of joint origin; congenital, implanted by
birth or nature; grown together
the likeness – homoioma – that
which has been made after the likeness of something; a figure, image, likeness,
representation
The point is that if we have been united with Jesus in His death, then we
will also be united with Him in His resurrection.
You don’t get one without the other.
We want to experience the resurrection power of Jesus Christ. But we first have to
get a hold of what it means to be united with Him in His death.
:6 knowing this, that our
old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away
with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin.
:6 knowing this, that our old man was crucified
knowing – ginosko – to learn to know, come to know; a
knowledge grounded on personal experience; present tense
old – palaios – old, ancient; no longer new, worn by
use, the worse for wear; that which is old and so worn out, having suffered more or less from the injuries and ravages of time.
The “old man” is not referring to your grandfather or your husband. It refers to your sin nature. It’s often called your “flesh”. It’s that invisible part inside of you that
just loves to sin and rebel against God.
Our sin nature isn’t called “old” because it’s wise and mature. It’s called “old” because it’s worn out and
ready to die
We need the “newness” of life. Our
sin nature is “old” and “worn out”.
crucified with – sustauroo (“with”
+ “to crucify”) – to crucify with; the word is found five times in the New
Testament:
It’s used in the gospels to describe the two thieves who died with Jesus:
(Matthew
27:44 NKJV) Even the robbers who were crucified with Him
reviled Him with the same thing.
Mr 15:32 "Let the Christ, the King of Israel, descend now from
the cross, that we may see and believe." Even those who were crucified with Him reviled Him.
Joh 19:32 Then the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first
and of the other who was crucified with
Him.
Then Paul uses it here in Romans and in:
(Galatians
2:20 NKJV) I have been crucified with Christ; it is no
longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live
in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself
for me.
The life we live in our present bodies needs to be lived
by “faith”, trusting in the Son of God.
Paul wrote that to the Galatians a few years before
writing this to the Romans. He’s had
years to ponder the truth.
When we think of Jesus hanging on the cross between two thieves – somehow we need to learn that we were up there with Him.
Quote:
To be crucified means, first, the man on the cross is facing only one
direction (death); second, he is not going back; and third, he has no further
plan of his own.
-- A.W. Tozer
Lesson
Learn death
We need to learn about this.
We need to “know” this.
Our knowledge isn’t merely head knowledge, but knowledge by
experience. More about this later.
:6 the body of sin might be done away with
might be done away with – katargeo (“according
to” + “inactive”) – to render idle, unemployed, inoperative; to cause to cease
The word is in a “subjunctive” mood – talks about possibility,
potentiality, something that may or may not occur.
In other words, it’s “possible” that our sin nature can become inactive.
The old King James has “destroyed” here.
I think that some of us have taken this to mean that we are not supposed
to have any more sin nature, but then we are surprised
to find that it still causes us trouble.
It’s not that the sin nature is completely obliterated, but on the cross it
was rendered inoperable, or, it “might” be
(subjunctive)…
Illustration
Years ago our church moved into a building known
as the Ice House.
We were under the impression that it had a working alarm system. And it did, kind of. It was a leased system, and it still belonged
to the alarm company. When the old
tenant left, the alarm company came in and disabled it, and it wouldn’t work
until they came in and put the right codes in.
But it was still in place. It was
ready to be used. But it didn’t really
work.
When Christ died on the cross, and we died with Him, He disabled our sin
nature. It has the potential of
remaining disabled. The problem is that
we often go in and reactivate it.
:6 we should no longer be slaves of sin
that we should – this is a “purpose” clause – understanding that our
old nature was crucified with Christ has a purpose, the purpose that we would
not be enslaved to sin.
be slaves – douleuo – to be a slave, serve, do service; to
obey, submit to
What determines whether or not I’m a slave to sin?
(Rom 6:16 NKJV)
Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to
obey, you are that one's slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death,
or of obedience leading to righteousness?
The issue is obedience.
Am I obeying sin or God?
Before Jesus came into our lives, we were slaves to sin.
Death is the most sure way for a slave to be set
free from its owner. You can run away
from your master, but you might be caught and sent back. But when you’re dead, your master no longer
holds power over you.
:7 For he who has died
has been freed from sin.
:7 died has been freed from sin
has been freed – dikaioo – to
render righteous or such he ought to be;
This is the word we’ve seen throughout the last couple of chapters – the
requirement of heaven, to be declared “righteous”.
The word is found 40 times in the New Testament, all but two times it’s
translated “justified” or some related word.
This is the only place it’s translated “freed”.
“As a man that is dead is acquitted
and released from bondage among men, so a man that has died to sin is acquitted
from the guilt of sin and released from its bondage” (Alford).
Illustration
Dwight L. Moody told of the young man who did not want to serve in Napoleon
Bonaparte’s army. When he was drafted, a
friend volunteered to go in his place.
The substitution was made, and some time later
the surrogate was killed in battle. The
same young man was, through a clerical error, drafted again. “You can’t take
me” he told the startled officers. “I’m
dead. I died on the battlefield.” They argued that they could see him standing
right in front of them, but he insisted they look on the roll to find the
record of his death. Sure enough, there
on the roll was the man’s name, with another name written beside it. The case finally went to the emperor himself. After examining the evidence, Napoleon said,
“Through a surrogate, this man has not only fought, but
has died in his country’s service. No
man can die more than once, therefore the law has no claim on him.”
Lesson
Dead to sin.
I’ve looked at this in various ways over the years.
I know there was a time when I took a rather mystical view of this,
probably from watching too many episodes of Kung Fu, or watching the Star Wars
movies too much. I kind of had the
feeling that if you maybe closed your eyes, “look deep within grasshopper”,
“feel the force”, and junk like that, hoping to somehow get “connected” with
the death of Jesus.
The problem was that this never seemed to work for me.
Thinking about dying is important, but there are also very practical things
that I need to be doing to see results.
Getting Practical
1) Starvation
(Galatians
6:7–8 NKJV) —7 Do not be deceived, God is not
mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. 8 For he who
sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the
Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life.
You can feed the flesh or starve it to death.
There is an old Eskimo proverb that says there are two
dogs fighting inside of you. The one you
feed is the one that wins. You can
choose to feed the flesh, or choose to feed the
Spirit.
2) Just say no.
Death and crucifixion are things that
are inherently unpleasant.
One of the most unpleasant things I can do to my flesh is
to just say “no”.
If you don’t agree that saying no is unpleasant, then
that’s only because you aren’t facing a very tantalizing temptation right now.
Illustration
A few years ago A.C. Green of the
Dallas Mavericks set a remarkable record, playing in his 907th (actually was 1192) consecutive game, an NBA record. A.C. was
proud of that mark. But he was even prouder of this: He was almost 35 years
old, and still a virgin. In the fast and loose world of the NBA, where gorgeous
young women are a constant temptation, that's a remarkable record.
A.C. Green wrote an article in Ebony magazine back in 1998,
“An attractive Black woman recently asked me about my sex
life. “A.C.,” she said, “why are you a virgin at age 34? You’re a handsome man,
you’re an athlete, and I know women are all over you all the time. Why are you
still a virgin?”
“It was not the first time I’ve been asked that question.
It came up in high school, and it came up when I attended Oregon State. But in
recent years the question has taken on more significance. In
today’s society in which sex is portrayed as the alpha and omega, the
way and means for all and everything, the fact that I am a virgin seems to
present a perplexing oddity. But being different, being unusual, being odd is
not a problem for me. I am who and what I am, and I’m quite comfortable with
that.
“I’m a virgin because, first of all,
that’s what God has designated for me at this time,
being a single man. I have committed my life to let Him make the decisions, not
me. I’m following His rules, so that’s the first thing. Secondly, I choose to
be abstinent because of the self-respect and high regard I have for my body.
It’s a choice I’m proud of. There are tests, there are trials, but to me it’s
not as hard as most people would imagine. You only really get tested when you
put yourself in a tempestuous situation, or spend your
time around tempting women. Maybe you’ll find out exactly what you’re made of,
but I wouldn’t trust myself to a stupid test like that. Therefore, it’s best
for me to keep away from possibly compromising situations.”
Crucifixion means taking the unpleasant road. It means taking another road than the one
that leads to temptation.
Illustration
The Five Chapter
Book:
(Heard on Focus on the Family)
Chapter One: A man
was walking down the street. He fell
into a hole. He groped his way in the
darkness. After a long time, he made his
way out of the hole.
Chapter Two: A man
was walking down the same street. He
pretended not to see the hole. He fell
in. After a long time, he made his way
out of the hole.
Chapter Three: A
man was walking down the same street. He
sees the hole. He falls in. He says it's not his fault. After a long time, he made his way out of the
hole.
Chapter Four: A man
walks down the same street. He sees the
hole. He knows it's there. He tries to walk around it. He falls in.
He knows it's his fault. He
quickly gets out.
Chapter Five: A man
takes another street.
:8 Now if we died with
Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him,
:9 knowing that Christ,
having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion
over Him.
live with – suzao – to live together with one; to live a
new life in union with Christ, i.e. dedicated to God
Paul is still talking about the pictures in “baptism”, the picture of being
immersed in Christ. Water baptism has two pictures, of being buried (immersed) with death, but
also being raised – coming back out of the water.
Back in verse 6 Paul said we were “crucified with” Christ. Here he clarifies that we’ve also been
“raised”, that we “live with” Christ.
As we mentioned in verse 6, in the Greek, there is a single word that
translates “crucified with”. Paul could
have used separate words for “crucify” and “with”, but instead he chose to use
a single word. If he had used separate
words, there is a greater emphasis simply on the idea of crucifixion, that
we’re “crucified with Christ”. But because he used a single, compound word,
the greater emphasis is being placed on the fact that we’re “crucified with Christ”. When He died, we died. We were with Him, somehow, mystically, as He
hung on the cross.
Now in this verse, Paul does something similar in that He uses a single,
compound word for “live with”.
The idea is that we were not only with Him in the crucifixion, but we were
also with Him in His resurrection.
Illustration
The proprietor of a drycleaning and dyeing
business hung this quaint sign in his window: "We dye to live, we live to
dye; the more we dye, the more we live; and the more
we live, the more we dye."
For the child of God, it is also true that the more he dies, the more he
lives!
:9 having been raised from the dead, dies no more
knowing – eido – to see; to know; to see with the
mind’s eye, signifies a clear and purely mental perception; This is not
knowledge gained from personal experience, but simply knowledge that comes from
thinking it through.
Jesus died once. Because He has been
raised from the dead, He doesn’t die any more.
Here is one of the problems with Roman Catholic teaching.
During the mass, when the priest says the special words over the bread and
the wine, they are supposed to literally turn into the body and blood of Jesus,
and Jesus once again dies for our sins.
But Paul says here that Jesus “dies no more”.
The writer to the Hebrews also writes:
(Hebrews
10:12 NKJV) But this Man, after He had offered one
sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God,
dominion – kurieuo – to be lord of, to rule, have dominion
over; of things and forces; to exercise influence upon, to have power over
:10 For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life
that He lives, He lives to God.
once for all – ephapax – once, at
once; all at once; once for all; this isn’t talking about the fact that Jesus
died for all of us (which is also true), here it means that when He died, He
died once and is now done with death.
Jesus died once and is now done with death.
Now Jesus is alive again and the life that He has is lived to God, for
God’s sake.
(Rom 6:10 NLT)
He died once to defeat sin, and now he lives for the glory of
God.
:11 Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but
alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
:11 reckon yourselves to be dead
likewise – houto – in this manner, thus, so
The truth of the last verse is going to be our pattern, something we’re
going to copy. Jesus died to sin once
and for all and lives to God. This is
what we’re supposed to learn.
reckon – logizomai – to reckon, count, compute, calculate,
count over
Remember this word from chapter 4?
This is our “accounting” word.
This word deals with reality. If I “logizomai”
or reckon that my bank book has $25 in it, it has $25 in it. Otherwise
I am deceiving myself. This word refers to facts not suppositions.
This is not some sort of self-hypnosis or some sort of escape from reality.
For example, the “word-faith” teachers tell you that you
cause things to come into reality by speaking
them. If you have a cold, then you
“confess” your healing, you proclaim your healing, and then healing is supposed
to come. Even after you are still
sniffling, you are supposed to go on and “confess” that you’ve been healed.
That’s not reality.
Paul is talking about reality.
We might say, “do the math”, or “figure it out”, and when you do, you will
find that you have died to sin as well.
When you “do the math” and add two plus two, you get
four. That’s reality. You don’t add two plus two and get five.
Wiersbe:
Reckoning is not claiming a promise, but acting
on a fact. God does not command us to become dead to sin. He tells us that we
are dead to sin and alive unto God, and then commands
us to act on it. Even if we do not act on it, the facts are still true.
Where we struggle is with the “reality” of Paul’s statement.
I’m not so sure that Paul himself at times didn’t struggle with the truth
of this statement.
(Rom 7:18-19 NLT) I know I am rotten through and through
so far as my old sinful nature is concerned. No matter which way I turn, I
can't make myself do right. I want to, but I can't. {19} When I want to do
good, I don't. And when I try not to do wrong, I do it anyway.
In reality, this has to
become an act of faith on our part, especially when our flesh feels very much
alive.
(Heb 11:1 NLT) What is faith? It is the confident
assurance that what we hope for is going to happen. It is the
evidence of things we cannot yet see.
Even though the evidence around me
indicates that my flesh is alive to sin, my acting in faith requires that I act
as though it’s dead.
We can do incredible things if we learn
to act even when we don’t see the physical evidence of
something (having faith).
Lesson
Dead reckoning
Some people might be tempted to read what Paul has written so far and come to the conclusion that all you need is to be baptized
to receive this benefit of the death of Christ for us.
But here Paul makes it clear that we have a responsibility – we must
exercise our will
When I think of Jesus dying on the cross, I often think about how He was
paying for my sins. There is a picture
of my sins being “heaped” upon the Son of God as He hung on the cross at
Calvary. But I need to realize that He
wasn’t just paying for them,
they were on Him at the cross.
When Jesus died, my sins died with Him.
A point of victory over sin comes when I realized that my sin nature was
crucified, that I was “crucified with Christ”.
Robertson: Self-indulgence
is inconsistent with trust in the vicarious atonement.
If I believe that Jesus died on the cross in my place, to pay for my sins,
then I need to stop indulging my “self”.
Forgiveness in Christ doesn’t give me a free ticket to continue to sin
without any worries. Forgiveness in
Christ means everything changes.
Lesson
Practical Living
Learning to trust the “logic” of death is only part. We don’t walk around like a bunch of dead
people.
The other part is learning to live with the “logic” of life in Jesus
Christ.
We talked about “practical death” in learning to starve the flesh.
Remember the old Eskimo adage: There
are two dogs fighting inside of you, the one you feed is the one who wins.
Victory is not just about starving the flesh, but
also feeding the Spirit.
Doing things like worshipping God, reading our Bibles,
praying, spending time with other Christians in fellowship, witnessing, letting
God use you to minister to others.
Doing the things that are right have a way of
giving us greater and greater victory.
In Deuteronomy we see the principle of God’s blessings of victory on His
people as they learn to simply obey the things He had for them:
(Deuteronomy 28:7 NKJV) “The Lord will cause your enemies who rise against you to be
defeated before your face; they shall come out against you one way and flee
before you seven ways.
:12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should
obey it in its lusts.
“Therefore” … Paul is drawing a conclusion with all this talk about dying
with Christ…
:12 do not let sin reign in your mortal body
reign – basileuo – to be king, to exercise kingly power,
to reign; metaph. to exercise the highest influence, to control
Present tense – “do not let sin continue to reign”
Who is “king” in your life? Who is
on the “throne” of your life? Is it your “self” or “sin”? When Christ is on the throne of your life,
things change. Who is on the throne?
mortal – thnetos – liable to death, mortal; We are stuck
with these “mortal” bodies until we die physically. Our sin nature is attached to our physical
body.
obey – hupakouo (“upon” + “to listen”) – to listen, to
harken; of one who on the knock at the door comes to listen who it is, (the
duty of a porter); to harken to a command; to obey, be obedient to, submit to
lusts – epithumia – desire, craving, longing, desire for
what is forbidden, lust; It denotes any natural desire or appetite, usually
with the implication that it is a depraved desire.
When sin comes knocking at your door with “lusts”, don’t listen to it,
don’t answer the door.
Better yet, let Jesus answer the door.
(Romans
13:14 NKJV) But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no
provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts.
Lesson
Just say no
Again, this is an issue of your “will”.
What are you going to do? I know
I just said this, but it’s still true.
Illustration
Big John Doesn’t Pay!
One fine day, a bus driver went to the bus garage, started his bus, and
drove off along the route. No problems for the first few stops-a few people got
on, a few got off, and things went generally well. At the next stop, however, a big hulk of a
guy got on. Six feet eight, built like a wrestler, arms hanging down to the
ground. He glared at the driver and said, “Big John doesn’t pay!” and sat down
at the back. Did I mention that the
driver was five feet three, thin, and basically meek? Well, he was. Naturally,
he didn’t argue with Big John, but he wasn’t happy about it. The next day the same thing happened-Big John
got on again, made a show of refusing to pay, and sat
down. And the next day, and the one after that, and so forth. This grated on
the bus driver, who started losing sleep over the way Big John was taking
advantage of him. Finally
he could stand it no longer. He signed up for body building
courses, karate, judo, and all that good stuff. By the end of the summer, he
had become quite strong; what’s more, he felt really good
about himself. So
on the next Monday, when Big John once again got on the bus and said, “Big John
doesn’t pay!,” the driver stood up, glared back at the
passenger, and screamed, “And why not?” With a surprised look on his face, Big
John replied, “Big John has bus pass.”
Don’t let your lusts bully you around!
There is an element of “victory” that lies simply in our “will”. We have a choice. Just say “no”.
I think that sometimes we need to choose to throw some cold water on our
sin nature.
Video: Wizard of Oz – I’m melting
https://youtu.be/aopdD9Cu-So
Could end at 1:14 (hail to Dorothy)
:13 And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the
dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God.
:13 do not present your members …
members – melos – a
member, limb: a member of the human body
present – paristemi – to place beside or near; to set at
hand; to present; to place a person or thing at one’s disposal; to bring to,
bring near;
KJV says “yield”
One thing that comes to mind is the idea of feeding birds. You put the food out and the birds come and
eat it. I have a friend who has a
hummingbird feeder that can feed a dozen birds, and at times he’s seen every
perch filled with birds coming to eat.
Are we putting our own body parts out there for sin to take advantage
of? Are we putting ourselves out there
for God to use?
We might think of a person “presenting” a gift to the queen.
Here the idea is that we are either presenting to our bodies a “gift” of
sin, which is not usually a very “royal” affair, or we can present our bodies
to God, which is quite royal in nature.
The first time the word is used is a “present imperative”, “do not keep
continually presenting your members to sin”
The second time the word is an “aorist imperative”, “present yourselves
once and for all to God…”
The same word (in aorist tense) is found in:
(Rom 12:1 NKJV)
I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that
you present your bodies a living
sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.
In actual practice, we will find ourselves needing to
present our bodies back to God. But the
idea is making a decision, handing yourself over to
God, and not getting stuck like a broken record offering ourselves
over and over and over like a Hindu chanting his
mantra.
Present yourself to God and then go serve Him.
:13 as instruments of righteousness to God
instruments – hoplon – any tool or implement for preparing a
thing; arms used in warfare, weapons; an instrument; a “shop” tool.
It’s interesting that the word is found in five verses in the New
Testament, this is the only one that’s not translated as “weapon” or “armor”.
Joh 18:3 Then Judas, having received a detachment [of troops], and
officers from the chief priests and Pharisees, came there with lanterns,
torches, and weapons.
Ro 13:12 The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness,
and let us put on the armor
of light.
2Co 10:4 For the weapons
of our warfare [are] not carnal but mighty in God for
pulling down strongholds,
How are the members of your body being used?
Are they weapons used by the enemy in our lives or tools (weapons) used to
serve God?
Wiersbe:
The Bible tells of people who permitted God to take and use their bodies
for the fulfilling of His purposes. God used the rod in Moses’ hand and
conquered Egypt. He used the sling in David’s hand to defeat the Philistines.
He used the mouths and tongues of the prophets. Paul’s dedicated feet carried
him from city to city as he proclaimed the Gospel. The Apostle John’s eyes saw
visions of the future, his ears heard God’s message, and his fingers wrote it
all down in a book that we can read.
But you can also read in the Bible accounts of the members of the body
being used for sinful purposes. David’s eyes looked on his neighbor’s wife; his
mind plotted a wicked scheme; his hand signed a cowardly order for the woman’s
husband to be killed. As you read Psalm 51, you see that his whole body was
affected by sin: his eyes (Ps. 51:3), mind (Ps. 51:6), ears (Ps. 51:8), heart
(Ps. 51:10), and lips and mouth (Ps. 51:14–15). No wonder he prayed for a thorough cleansing! (Ps. 51:2)
Lesson
Presenting arms
You might think of this phrase in a military sense.
“Present arms” is a command used by many militaries in the world as a sign
of respect. If you are armed with a firearm,
you present the underside of the firearm towards the one receiving the honor.
We are to present our bodies to the Lord.
Illustration
A little girl fell out of bed one night and began to cry. Her mother rushed
in to her bedroom, picked her up, put her back in bed,
and asked her, “Honey, why did you fall out of bed?” And she said, “I think I
stayed too close to the place where I got in.”
That’s our problem. Too often we are
staying too close to the “edge”, continuing to “present” ourselves to the bad
stuff.
Illustration
There was once a man on a diet who prayed, "Lord, if you don't want me
to go get donuts, then let there not be any parking spots at the donut
shop." But he had to give in to the
donuts because sure enough, when he got there, there was a parking spot right
in front of the door … after his twentieth time around the block.
Are you going to hang out in the place that will lead you towards sin? Or are you going to hang out in the place
that’s going to lead you towards the Lord?
We are to present our “members”, our body parts to the Lord.
J.Vernon McGee writes,
What is your real problem, friend? I know what mine is.
What about yours? Whatever that specific thing is, yield it to God. A bad
temper? Well, take that to Him and talk to Him about it. What about a gossipy
tongue? A dear lady who attended a “tongues meeting” was asked if she wanted to
speak in tongues. She exclaimed, “Oh, my no. I’d like to lose about forty feet
off the one I have now!” If your tongue is your problem, yield it to God.
:14 For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but
under grace.
:14 you are not under law but under grace
This is one of the reasons we are to “present” or
“yield” ourselves to God.
Paul has already demonstrated that we are not saved by the keeping of the
Law, but through grace.
Grace is not an excuse to sin. Grace is a reason NOT to sin.
have dominion – kurieuo – to be
lord of, to rule, have dominion over; of things and forces; to exercise
influence upon, to have power over; future tense
Same word used in verse 9:
(Rom 6:9 NKJV)
…Death no longer has dominion over Him.
Just as death has no “lordship” over Jesus any longer, so
sin no longer has “lordship” over us.
Under the Law of Moses I think I have to perform to be accepted by God.
But I am under grace – where my sins were paid for at the cross when Jesus
died with and for them.
Jesus’ death on the cross has snipped the cord between me and sin. Sin no longer has to
dominate me because of my dying with Christ.
How does this work?
Part of the function of the law is to make sin “abound” or become more clear:
(Romans 5:20 NKJV) Moreover the law entered that the offense might abound. But where sin abounded, grace abounded much more,
It would seem that the clearer, more obvious sin
becomes, the stronger sin becomes.
(1
Corinthians 15:56 NLT) For sin is the sting that results in
death, and the law gives sin its power.
One commentator wrote, “Law inflames,
grace kills the love of sin.”
In other words, when you live your life
completely by having a huge list of things you’re not supposed to do, and every
day you continually review the list telling yourself what you’re not supposed
to do, it ends up provoking you into doing the very thing you’re not supposed
to do.
Illustration
Close your eyes and try to follow what
I’m telling you. Whatever you do, be
sure that you don’t think of a great big bowl of vanilla ice cream. And certainly don’t
think of putting hot, thick, gooey chocolate fudge on it. And whatever you do, don’t think about the
huge mound of whipped cream on it, especially all those chopped nuts and a nice
big, red cherry on top. Now, what are
you thinking about?
When we have chosen to try and live our
lives to please God by the keeping of the Law, or by keeping a list of do’s and don’ts, the list itself will help push us into
breaking it. But when we choose to live
under God’s grace, understanding that He’s done it all for me, and I learn to
open myself up to the working of the Holy Spirit, then I don’t have to worry
about what I’m doing because the Holy Spirit will guide me to do what is
pleasing to God (we’ll see this when we get to Romans 8).
Break
6:15-23 Change of Masters
:15 What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace?
Certainly not!
:15 Shall we sin because we are not under law
This might sound a little like the verse that started off the chapter:
(Rom 6:1 NKJV)
What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may
abound?
We mentioned back then that there tend to be two types of people who ask
questions like this:
1)
The one who wants to sin, and looks for
this to be a good excuse to sin.
2) The legalist who
is afraid of what “grace” might do to people, perhaps letting them go wild.
They are afraid that if we do away with the “law”, that
people might go wild.
The problem is that the person who thinks this way hasn’t
looked at what grace is really all about, and what our relationship with God is
supposed to really be about.
There is a slight difference in the wording between this verse and Romans
6:1
In verse 1, the idea is that of “continuing or remaining in sin” so that
God’s grace would be stronger in our lives.
“Should we continue to keep on sinning…?”
Here, the idea (aorist, Robertson) is that of committing occasional acts of
sin because we are no longer living under the law, but
living under grace. “Shall we
occasionally go back and sin from time to time since we aren’t under law but
grace?”
A.T.Roberston writes,
Surely, the objector says, we may take a night off now and then and sin a
little bit “since we are under grace.”
Isn’t okay to cheat a little every now and
then? Aren’t we under grace?
Paul is going to answer this issue of slipping back every
once in a while for a “little sin”…
:16 Do you not know that
to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one’s slaves whom
you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading
to righteousness?
:16 to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey
present – paristemi – to place beside or near; to set at
hand; to present; to place a person or thing at one’s disposal; to bring to,
bring near
KJV says “yield” (same word as in vs.13, “present your members”)
The tense of the word is a “present” tense, meaning a continuous action.
obey – hupakoe – obedience, compliance, submission
from – hupakouo – to listen, to harken
If you keep presenting yourself to sinful things to do them, even to just
“listen” to them, then you are a slave of that thing.
There’s no “occasionally” about it.
Who do you listen to? What do you
put in front of your face?
I walk into the kitchen, walk up to the refrigerator and open the freezer
door.
I’m hungry. I’m
looking for a snack, what am I looking for?
And then I spot it.
I’m going for the ice-cream. Maybe it won’t hurt just to look at the ice-cream???
That’s “presenting yourself”. That’s putting it right in
your face.
:16 you are that one’s slaves whom you obey
There is a fork in the road. Not a
real fork, but a choice you have to make.
It looks like a simple choice of which road you’re going to take, but you have to ask yourself, where does each road lead you?
Illustration
The story goes that two of the pastors in town were
standing out by the street waving signs that said, “Repent, the end is
near”. After a couple dozen cars drove
by, one of them said to the other, “Do you think we should have changed the
wording of our signs to simply have read, “Turn around, the bridge is out”?
Which road are you going to take?
One road leads to death, the other road leads to
“righteousness”.
Sometimes we think we can spend a little time with our sin and have a fond,
loving reunion. We ignore the realities
of life.
Have you heard of the Las Vegas magic duo of “Siegfried and Roy”? Some of their acts included the use of exotic
white tigers. Back in 2003 there was a
terrible accident when one of the tigers tried to rip out Roy’s throat.
We think we can handle our sin. We
think we have it “tamed”. Can’t be done.
You might say, “I only shoplift occasionally”, or “I only look at
pornography from time to time”, or “Just a little drink”.
Your pet sin, my pet sin, will eventually turn on us. It will bring death.
Whose slave?
The person who says, “Hey, leave me alone, I’m not under the Law, I’m under
grace. Get out of my face!” and is using
that for a cover for their sin is only deceiving themselves. They are not under grace,
but are in fact a slave to sin.
The two are mutually exclusive. You
can’t be claiming to belong to God and living in His grace and still be an unrepentant
slave to sin. The fact that your life is
still caught up in sin, no matter what you say, is proof just who your master
is.
WARNING: I’m
not saying that you can’t be under grace and sin.
But if you are truly learning and walking in grace, then
you’re going to be experiencing an increasing distance in your life from
sin. You’re going to be heading away
from it.
:17 But God be thanked
that though you were slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart that
form of doctrine to which you were delivered.
:17 you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine
thanked – charis – grace; that which affords joy,
pleasure, delight, sweetness, charm, loveliness: grace of speech; thanks, (for
benefits, services, favors), recompense, reward
from the heart –
It’s when our obedience comes from inside our heart that we’re talking
about real, true obedience.
Are you obeying because someone is threatening you? Or are you obeying because you hear the call
of Jesus and you joyfully and willingly drop the luggage of your sin and go
running to Him?
form – tupos (“type”) – the mark of a stroke or
blow, print; a figure formed by a blow or impression; form; an example
Remember the end of the “Dragnet” TV show?
The hand holds the “tupos” while a hammer
pounds the stamp into the granite.
you were delivered – paradidomi – to
give into the hands (of another); to give over into (one’s) power or use; to
commit, to commend
Lesson
Leave a mark
Video: Tripp and Tyler – That will
leave a mark
Now those are “bad marks” to leave.
Paul had not been to Rome. He was
not the one who had led his readers to the Lord. Others had gone ahead of him, perhaps
Priscilla and Aquila (Rom. 16:3).
But when they had come to the Lord, they did it because someone had left a
“mark”. Perhaps Paul is talking simply
about the doctrines, but I think he’s also talking about the kind of life that
people lived before the Romans.
Someone had “left a mark” on them.
You see Paul mentioning this subject in his letters (all using “tupos”)
(1 Timothy 4:12 NKJV) Let no one despise your youth, but
be an example to the believers in word, in
conduct, in love, in spirit, in faith, in purity.
Phil 3:17 Brethren, join in following my example, and note those who so walk, as
you have us for a pattern.
Titus 2:7 in all things showing
yourself [to be] a pattern of good
works; in doctrine [showing] integrity, reverence, incorruptibility,
It has been said that much about being a Christian isn’t “taught” but
“caught”. Others need to see a real live
example of what a Christian looks like.
They’re looking to us to show them.
Leave a mark. Leave an impression.
Paul didn’t just tell the people what was right, he
demonstrated it right in front of them.
:18 And having been set
free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness.
:18 you became slaves of righteousness
having been set free – eleutheroo – to
make free; set at liberty: from the dominion of sin
The verb is an “aorist” tense, a one
time action. There was a
time in the past that you were set free from sin.
The question is, once you’ve been set free, where do you go from there?
you became slaves – douloo – to make a
slave of, reduce to bondage; metaph. give myself wholly to one’s needs and
service
Again, an “aorist” tense, a one time
action. At a point in the past they had become slaves of righteousness.
Every man is a slave of something.
There is a sense in which no person is free.
You can choose to be a slave to sin or you can
choose to be a slave to God.
There is no middle ground.
Bob Dylan actually had it correct in his song,
“Gotta Serve Somebody”, 1979, (first verse)
Video: Bob Dylan – Gotta Serve
Somebody
You may be an ambassador to England
or to France;
You may like to gamble, you might
like to dance;
You may be the heavy-weight champion
of the world;
You may be a socialite with a long
string of pearls;
But you're gonna
have to serve somebody.
Yes indeed you're gonna
have to serve somebody.
Well it may be the devil
or it may be the Lord but you're gonna have to serve
somebody.
:19 I speak in human terms
because of the weakness of your flesh. For just as you presented your members as
slaves of uncleanness, and of lawlessness leading to more
lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves of
righteousness for holiness.
:19 I speak in human terms
weakness – astheneia – want of strength, weakness, infirmity
Paul apologizes for bringing the concept of “slavery” into a discussion
about following after God. But slavery is the perfect picture.
:19 slaves of uncleanness
members – the parts of your body
uncleanness – akatharsia – the impurity of lustful, luxurious,
profligate living (utterly and shamelessly immoral)
In American, we are big on the concept of personal “freedom”.
For years the homosexual community fought for their “freedom”.
There were all sorts of commercials on TV tugging at your heartstrings,
feeling sorry for the poor homosexual.
But if you follow what Paul is teaching us, the real issue behind the push
for sexual freedom is not about freedom,
but about what you are enslaving
yourself to?
Are we moving toward a society where there are no bounds as to what you can
enslave yourself to?
Our society has become so anesthetized to “uncleanness” and “lawlessness”
that we don’t see the lines anymore. The
things we complain about “losing” aren’t freedoms but things that enslave
people.
Paul is encouraging his readers to take another route to “freedom”…
:19 present your members as slaves of righteousness …
slaves – doulos – a slave, bondman, man of servile
condition
We might think that a slave doesn’t have any choice as to who he obeys.
The Jewish concept of a slave involved a choice.
A person usually became a slave because of
financial circumstances. If you were a
Hebrew slave owner, you had to set your servant free after he served you for
six years.
But not everyone wanted to go after six years.
(Exodus 21:5–6
NKJV) —5 But if the servant plainly says, ‘I love my master, my wife, and my
children; I will not go out free,’ 6 then his
master shall bring him to the judges. He shall also bring him to the door, or
to the doorpost, and his master shall pierce his ear with an awl; and he shall
serve him forever.
God wants us to make a choice, to choose to serve
Him. He longs for us to offer our ear to
Him.
for holiness – hagiasmos –
consecration; sanctification: it’s the process of becoming more
and more set apart for God’s use.
It’s not an instantaneous event, it’s a process.
The outcome of presenting your bodily parts as slaves to righteousness is
holiness.
Lesson
Serve God like you used to serve sin
Whereas we used to yield ourselves to lusts, we
should now yield ourselves to righteousness.
We should be “presenting” ourselves to righteousness.
Think of the guy who struggles with pornography. He starts thinking of the lustful thoughts
and decides he’s going to feed those lustful thoughts. Whether he sneaks around and hides in the
bathroom while he fills his mind with uncleanness, or whether he logs onto the
Internet to search for pornography, or whether he goes to an adult bookstore,
he is “yielding” his members to the lustful thoughts.
Now picture that same drive to fill those lusts, and
take it and picture the guy going to the same lengths to feed the Spirit, the
part that wants to obey God. Wild horses
couldn’t keep him from Bible Study on Wednesday night! You might catch him late at night or early in
the morning sneaking into a secret place, Bible in hand, to feed His soul on
the Word of God. Instead of searching
the Internet for pornography, he’s going over the church prayer list and
praying for the saints or logging on to listen to Bible Studies.
:20 For when you were
slaves of sin, you were free in regard to
righteousness.
No man serves two masters.
If you are a slave to sin, then you are not a slave to righteousness.
:21 What fruit did you
have then in the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those
things is death.
:21 the end of those things is death
ashamed – epaischunomai – to be ashamed; a more intense form of
aischuno – to disfigure; to dishonor; to suffuse
with shame, make ashamed, be ashamed
the end – telos – end; the
end to which all things relate, the aim, purpose
What was the result you got from doing the kinds of things that you are now
so ashamed of?
You got death.
Do you remember the “shame” of your sin?
Have you forgotten why you turned to Christ in the first place?
Lesson
Don’t forget the end!
The old ways, which now cause us shame, used to only lead us to death.
There’s a temporary death, as in the idea of hangovers, STD’s, guilt,
condemnation, etc.
There’s a permanent death as well, hell.
One of the horrible deceptions of the enemy is to keep us preoccupied so we
don’t think about the consequence of our sin.
After we’ve yielded to the temptation, we usually end up sick of what we’ve
done. But oh if
we would think ahead before we commit the sin.
:22 But now having been set free from sin, and having become slaves of God,
you have your fruit to holiness, and the end, everlasting life.
:22 fruit to holiness, and the end, everlasting life
having been set free – eleutheroo – to
make free; set at liberty: from the dominion of sin
When you are enslaved to God, you get a different result than you did when
you were enslaved to sin.
You get the fruit of holiness.
You get the ultimate “end” – not death, but eternal life.
(John 10:10 NKJV) The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to
destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it
more abundantly.
:23 For the wages of sin is
death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
:23 the wages of sin is death,
wages – opsonion – a soldier’s pay, allowance
; that part of the soldier’s support given in place of pay [i.e. rations]
and the money in which he is paid;
When you work the job of “sin”, you get a paycheck at the end of the day,
written out for the full amount, no deductions, and the amount is “death”.
:23 gift of God is eternal life
the gift – charisma – a
favor with which one receives without any merit of his own; the gift of divine grace;
literally “a work of grace”
Eternal life on the other hand isn’t something that’s earned like a
“wage”. It is a gift freely given to us,
even when we don’t deserve us.
We often use this verse as a great principle for those who don’t know
Jesus.
But keep in mind that Paul is writing to believers and the concept of
slavery to sin.
If we get caught up in sin – we will find a paycheck at the end of the week
that not one you want to cash.
If we will trust our lives to Jesus, we end up with the greatest gift of
all.
Pericope Project
6:1-14
Dead or Alive
6:15-23
Change of Masters
All of chapter 6?
Death and Resurrection
Changed in Christ?
Homework
Prayer Requests
Reading in The Message
Memorize Romans 8:28
(Romans 8:28 NKJV) And we know that all things work together for good to those who
love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.
Quick Quiz
Keywords:
Strength from His glory
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