ROMANS 6:1-14 - EXEGESIS
ROMANS 6:1-4. SHALL WE CONTINUE IN SIN, THAT GRACE MAY ABOUND?
1 What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase? 2 May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it? 3 Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? 4 Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.
"What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?" (v. 1). Paul has established our guilt (1:18 ff.), the futility of relying on the law (2:17 ff.), and the hope that we have in the grace of God, which we appropriate by our faith (3:21-5:21). He just now said, "where sin abounded, grace abounded more exceedingly" (5:20).
Now he sets out to deal with a potentially serious misunderstanding. If our hope is based on God's grace, which abounds even more than our sin, does our conduct count for anything? If God's grace covers all our sins, does it matter whether we sin a little or a lot? Is it possible that we might even render a service to God by sinning? Should we sin so that God can manifest the depth and breadth of his grace?
Paul's approach to dealing with this issue is to ask a rhetorical question-an approach that he uses frequently in this epistle (2:21; 3:1, 8-9; 4:1, etc.). "Should we continue in sin?" He has probably been asked this question directly-or has at least has encountered this attitude.
"May it never be! We who died to sin, how could we live in it any longer?" (v. 2). Paul's answer to his rhetorical question will continue through the rest of chapter 6, but begins with this strong denial-"May it never be!" Paul then proceeds to the theological underpinning of his argument, based on our new identity. As Christians, we no longer live under the dominion of sin, but have moved to the kingdom of God. "Previously (we were) dead in sin (Eph. 2:1); now (we are) dead to sin" (Morris, 245-italics added).
We died to sin, so how can we continue to live in it? It is like asking someone who has been released from prison why he would want to continue occupying a cell-or asking an emancipated slave why he would want to continue submitting to an abusive master-or asking a lottery winner why she would want to continue living in an old shack. Once a person has been liberated from an unhappy situation, it makes no sense for that person to continue in that situation. We have been liberated from sin-have "died to sin"-so it makes no sense for us to continue living in it.
"Or don't you know that all we who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?" (v. 3). In verse 2, Paul said that we have "died to sin." Now he links that odd expression to baptism. Paul suggests that baptism has power that transcends mere symbolism, and involves more than cleansing from sin. Baptism in Paul's day was almost certainly by immersion of adult believers (Craddock, 335; Barclay, 83-84; Morris, 246; Wright, 538; Hunsinger, 52; Harrington, 51). When we are buried in baptismal water, that act unites us with Christ in his death and burial (v. 5). Sin no longer has power over a dead person-the usual temptations no longer apply-so it makes no sense that we would give sin dominion over us after dying with Christ and being freed from sin.
"We were buried therefore with him through baptism to death, that just like Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we also might walk in newness of life" (v. 4). If it was good news that we were buried with Christ (and there is a sense of liberation involved in death and burial), it is even better news that we have been raised from the dead with Christ (v. 5).
Earlier, Paul said that Jesus "was delivered up for our trespasses, and was raised for our justification" (4:25). Now he tells us that, in our baptism, we shared in Jesus' death and resurrection-that we personally experienced death and resurrection. There is a difference, of course. Jesus died and was resurrected physically, but ours was not a physical death and resurrection. We did, however, by the grace of God, gain the liberating benefit of death and resurrection-gained freedom from sin.
Our freedom from sin, however, is less than total. We are still tempted and we still sin, but we have become new creatures so that "we also might walk in newness of life" (v. 4). That is the purpose of our death and resurrection-that "we also might walk in newness of life"-that we might become a holy people suitable for life in the kingdom of God.
This "newness" began with our baptism, but the renewal process continues throughout life and will be fully realized only in the general resurrection at the end of time. However, the fact that we began that "newness" at baptism and are intended to move in the direction of even more complete "newness" makes it inconceivable that we would want to "continue in sin" (v. 1)-that we would willingly give sin dominion over our lives-that we would live life in casual disregard for the will of God.
ROMANS 6:5-7. IF WE HAVE BECOME UNITED WITH HIM IN DEATH
5 For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection, 6 knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin; 7 for he who has died is freed from sin.
"For if we have become united with (sumphutoi-grown together with) him in the likeness of his death" (v. 5a). Paul assumes that the condition of the "if" clause has been met-that we have, indeed, been united with Christ in the likeness of his death.
"we will also be (future tense) part of his resurrection" (v. 5b). In verse 4, Paul suggests that we experience the "newness of life" associated with Christ's resurrection in the here-and-now. Since the issue with which he is wrestling in these verses is appropriate Christian conduct, it seems obvious that there should be a here-and-now impact of the resurrection (Christ's and ours) on our day-to-day behavior. However, in verse 5, the verb is future tense-we "we will also be part of his resurrection." Taking these two verses together, it seems clear that we are experiencing "newness of life" already as a result of uniting with Christ in his death and resurrection, but that we also look forward to completing our resurrection experience in the future.
"knowing this, that our old man (ho palaios hemon anthropos-our old man) was crucified with him, that the body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be in bondage to sin"(v. 6). In chapter 5, Paul contrasted Adam and Christ (5:12-21), referring to both of them as "one man." He tells us that sin and death came into the world by one man, by which he means Adam (5:12)-but the free gift of grace also came into the world by one man, Jesus (5:15). While Paul does not label Adam as the old man and Christ as the new man in v. 6, he strongly implies as much.
ROMANS 6:8-11. IF WE HAVE DIED WITH HIM, WE WILL ALSO LIVE WITH HIM
8 Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, 9 knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, is never to die again; death no longer is master over Him. 10 For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. 11 Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus.
"But if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him" (v. 8). In the Gospel of John, Jesus told Nicodemus, "Most certainly, I tell you, unless one is born anew, (Greek: anothen) he can't see the Kingdom of God" (John 3:3). Anothen can mean either "from above" or "again," and in that context clearly means both. It is from that verse that we get the phrase "born again" Christians, a phrase that has negative connotations for many people today because of the fundamentalist mindset of those who most often identify themselves as "born again." We should be careful, however, not to throw out the baby with the bath water, because Jesus said "unless one is born anothen he can't see the Kingdom of God." He clearly intends that all of his disciples should be "born anothen"-born again and born from above.
In Romans 6:8, Paul tells us how that happens. In baptism, we die with Christ-die to our old person, so that we might live the resurrection life with Christ. If we "died (aorist tense, indicating a past action) with Christ, ...that we will also live (future tense) with him." We live betwixt and between-having died and been resurrected with Christ in baptism, but awaiting the full experience of the resurrection life at the general resurrection.
"knowing that Christ, being raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no more has dominion over him" (v. 9). Jesus' resurrection was unlike those of Jairus' daughter (Mark 5:21-24, 35-43), the widow's son (Luke 7:11-17), or Lazarus (John 11:1-44). Those people were raised from the dead with ordinary bodies that would die again. Jesus was raised with a body that exhibited certain normal physical characteristics. It was possible for Thomas to touch him and to examine his wounds (John 20:27). It was possible for him to eat breakfast (John 21:9-14), and to break bread with the disciples (Luke 24:30).
But it was also possible for to pass through a locked door (John 20:19) and to vanish from sight (Luke 24:31) and to ascend into heaven (Luke 24:51; Acts 1:6-11). We must conclude that Jesus' resurrection body was like our bodies in some ways but not in others. Paul assures us that, unlike others who were raised from the dead, Jesus "dies no more" (v. 9). "Death no more has dominion over him" (v. 9), because his resurrection defeated death.
"For the death that he died, he died to sin one time; but the life that he lives, he lives to God" (v. 10). Jesus, by his death, shut the door on sin once and for all. By his resurrection, he enjoys a new life devoted solely to God.
"Thus consider (logizesthe) yourselves also to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord" (v. 11). This word, logizesthe, is a bookkeeping term. Even though we are still subject to human frailty, God has made an entry in the eternal books that renders us "dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord" (v. 11). Given our human frailty, it is sometimes difficult to accept that we are, in fact "dead to sin, but alive to God," but Paul calls us to keep that reality ever before us-to accept that God has, indeed, rendered us "dead to sin, but alive to God."
It is God's work, not ours, that renders us "dead to sin, but alive to God." If it were our work, we could accept it more easily-we could take pride in our accomplishment-but it cannot be our work. We do not have it in us to accomplish for ourselves what only Christ can accomplish for us. It therefore becomes, to some extent, an act of will for us to logizesthe (to consider or to reckon) ourselves as "dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord." Paul calls us to do just that-to accept that God has "cooked the books" in our favor-to accept the reality that we are now, by the grace of God, "dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord."
ROMANS 6:12-14. DON'T LET SIN REIGN
12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its lusts, 13 and do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness; but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. 14 For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law but under grace.
"Therefore" (v. 12a) links what follows with what Paul said earlier. He has established that we are new people in Christ (vv. 1-11). Now he establishes what that means in terms of our conduct (vv. 12-23).
"don't let sin reign in your mortal body" (Greek: soma) (v. 12a). Our bodies provide opportunity for temptation to rule us. Our physical appetites (hunger, thirst, sex) cry out for satisfaction. "The battle is a spiritual one, but it is fought, and won or lost, in the daily decisions the believer makes about how to use his body" (Moo, 383).
Paul has just said that "Christ, being raised from the dead, dies no more." He followed that with a call to "consider yourselves also to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord" (vv. 9, 11). Given that they have the promise of immortality, they must not allow the mortal to rule their lives.
"that you should obey it in its lusts" (epithumiais-lusts) (v. 12). Our baptism does not insure that we will do the right thing. While it is true that we have been baptized into Christ's death so that we might walk in newness of life (vv. 3-4), it is also true that we live with a foot in both worlds. We have begun our resurrection walk with Christ, but we still inhabit mortal bodies subject to various lusts and passions-pride, anger, sexual lust, greed, gluttony, drunkenness, etc., etc., etc.
We can be sure that the tempter will tailor the bait especially for us, probing our defenses at their weakest point. We should also understand that succumbing to temptation once makes it more difficult to resist the next time. The person who pads his/her expense account today will find it even more tempting to embezzle or to adopt questionable accounting practices tomorrow. The married person who encourages an office flirtation will find it increasingly difficult to avoid infidelity. Sin is a slippery slope. The tempter is determined to become our master, and has patience to entice us one small step at a time.
But God gives us the means to resist temptation. First, God gave us a new nature at our baptism. Also, we also have scripture to guide us. It is instructive that Jesus countered each of his temptations with a verse from scripture, suggesting that a proactive defense against temptation is to learn scripture. Prayer, worship, and other spiritual disciplines are helpful. But it is also important-urgently important-for us to say, "I am a Christian, and I am not going to do that." That is Paul's point in this text. We became new people at our baptism, and must act the part. If we will keep in mind who we are-whose we are-that will help us to avoid the tempter's trap.
"Neither present your members to sin as instruments (hopla-weapons, tools) of unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God, as alive from the dead, and your members as instruments (hopla) of righteousness to God" (v. 13). The word, hopla, can be translated weapons, and might best be translated that way here. Paul tells us not to present any of our members-any part of our bodies-to be used by sin as a weapon. Instead we are to present our whole selves and all of our parts to be used by God as weapons of righteousness. In the great contest between good and evil, Paul calls us to get on the right side-God's side. The irony, of course, is that if we surrender our power to sin, Satan turns it against us. To give our power to Satan is to arm a mortal enemy committed to our destruction. To use our power for God insures that it will be used for eternal purposes-and, in the end, for our own eternal benefit.
"For sin will not have dominion over you. For you are not under law, but under grace" (v. 14). It is interesting that Paul, a Jewish Pharisee, would say that sin no longer has dominion over us because we are not under the law. Jews believed that the law protected them from sin by showing what to do and what to avoid. There is a sense in which that was true-the law serves as a helpful guide.
There were, however, two problems associated with the law. (1) When observance of law becomes paramount, it is possible to lose sight of the intent of the law-to consider rote observance as sufficient. (2) It proved impossible to observe the law completely, so every person "under law" was bound to fail. That is the reason that sin has dominion over those who are "under law." But we are "under grace"-a situation in which we cannot fail, because God forgives our sins. We can live secure in the faith that God's grace is greater than our sins.
ROM. 6:1-14 - RICHISON COMMENTARY
Chap. 6 begins a major section of Rom (Chaps. 6-8). This part of Romans deals with how to live the Christian life with sanctification. Chapter six demonstrates how to live the Christian life, chapter seven portrays what depending on self does to that life, and chapter eight shows the power of the Holy Spirit in Christian living.
We can break chapter six into two main sections:
Paul opened chapter six with a number of questions that require thought for a serious Christian. These questions arise out of the end of chapter five, which deals with the climax of God's super-abundant grace. Most people cannot get their minds around a God who gives super-grace. The implications are staggering.
The abounding nature of sin does not daunt God's grace. He has more than enough to overcome any sin, yet there is something else to consider.
Chapter six is not dealing with the kind of life a believer should live but with how he should live it or by what method he should live. New life and continuance in sin is inconsistent.
v. 1: What shall we say then?
This is a rhetorical question. The "then" here harks back to the end of the previous chapter that has to do with how God deals with man in super-abundant grace no matter to what degree man may sin. No matter what expanse sin may have, God's grace abounds "much more."
Paul knew some people would try to distort super-grace toward their own ends, so he drew a false implication that some might take from God's grace. True grace does not allow for ongoing violation of God's standards.
Shall we continue [abide] in [the] sin
The word "sin" in the singular here refers to the sin capacity, not to individual acts of sin. The definite article "the" before the word "sin" in the Greek is a reference to chapter five, to sin reigning as king (5:21). This is personification of the sin capacity as a dominant, reigning king. Note the usage of sin in the singular in chapter six: vv. 1, 2, 6, 10, 11, 13, 14, 16, 17, 18, 20, 22, 23.
The word "continue" emphasizes persistence. This is an intense word conveying the idea of persistent fellowship with something. The issue is whether the principle of grace necessarily implies sinning more to increase grace more.
that grace may abound?
The idea of God's super-grace has serious implications about how to live the Christian life. Does the Christian life depend on us and a legalistic approach to spirituality, or is it contingent on God's provisions? The question is even more precise-should we sin more so that God's grace can increase more or even "abound"? In other words, according to some, we should sin more to magnify the greatness of God's grace.
The idea in the question is whether we should sin carelessly to manifest God's grace. That is, if God's grace is more greatly demonstrated the more we sin, should we then sin more to experience more grace?
PRINCIPLE:
Legalism is not the remedy for libertinism.
APPLICATION:
Intentional misunderstanding of the marvelous doctrine of God's super-grace as libertinism is an intentional distortion of the grace principle. Our new man motivates us to a godly life.
God saves believers "in Christ" and not those in Adam. Those "in Christ" have a new capacity ("new man"). He does this by giving Christ a new position or status before Him. Adam's posterity no longer reigns in us, but we hold status in Christ. That status produces a new way of life.
v. 2: Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?
This assertion "certainly not" repudiates the idea-with a resounding "ghastly thought!"-that people should sin more to experience more of God's grace. Grace never defers to licentiousness. Some people use grace to cloak their sin.
Grace is so dynamic that it breaks the domination of sin. We cannot be cordial with the sin capacity. Grace not only deals with forgiveness of sin, but it breaks sin's domination over the believer.
Paul repeated this point in 6:15. This second question proposes the idea of an occasional act of sin, since grace makes it intolerable to live a life of habitual sin. The answer to that question is found in 6:16-23. The idea is that the Christian changed owners at salvation. It is not his propensity to sin without regard for his new standing and status.
PRINCIPLE:
There is no justification without resulting sanctification.
APPLICATION:
God does not declare people righteous without giving "newness of life." Although justification has nothing to do with sanctification, sanctification is the inevitable outcome of justification. Sanctification starts with justification.
v. 2b: How shall we [emphatic Greek-such as we are, the very ones who]
Paul answered a question with another rhetorical question to deal with the distorted idea of increasing grace with more sin.
The emphatic "we" in this phrase emphasizes the uniqueness we have by becoming Christians. "Such as we are" carries the idea that continuing to sin is against our new nature received by the status of being "in Christ."
PRINCIPLE:
It is against the constitutional nature of Christians to sin without regard for the one who died for their sin.
APPLICATION:
If a sheep falls into the mud, it is her nature to get out; however, if a hog gets into the mud, he wallows in it, for it is his nature to stay there. The very nature of becoming a Christian changes a believer's attitude toward both sin itself and the one who paid for his sin.
v. 2c: who died [decisively at one point in the past] to sin
The word "died" refers to the point of our salvation that marks the beginning of the Christian life. Christians "died to sin" in principle when they became Christians. God set us free from sin's power (vv. 18, 22). How can we continue to "live" in something to which we died?
Something decisive happened to the believer when he or she became a Christian. The tense (aorist) indicates something epochal happened to a Christian at the point of salvation. He passed from the epoch of being in Adam to the new epoch of being in Christ. Instead of belonging to the first Adam, he now belongs to the second Adam (federal head), Christ Jesus the Lord. This is a dramatic change. Christians are incorporated into Christ. There is a new realm in which they operate.
This new relationship to Christ is secure. Nothing can overturn it. Neither sin nor death can change it (Ro 8). The death and resurrection of Christ changed the relationship forever.
Christians died to sin in a legal or forensic sense. God calls on the believer to resist sin based on what is already a judicial reality. The believer died with Christ positionally or legally. Paul's exhortation is not to cease from sin, but is a proclamation that Christians died to sin (indicative mood). The domination of sin has been broken and the believer now walks in newness of life (v. 4), the mastery of the sin capacity is now broken, and we are no long slaves of sin (v. 6). Sin should not reign (v. 12) in a person "in Christ." Those who have forgiveness also have power over the sin capacity.
"Died" does not mean that sin died but that we died. Christians are no longer dominated by sin because our "old man" (6:6) died. Something so radical happened to the believer when he became a Christian that he is now regenerate. There is a change of control from sin or the old man to a new, regenerate capacity.
This does not mean that the Christian is free from the possibility of sinning. Sin still plagues Christians. When a Christian sins he does it out of character.
PRINCIPLE:
Our death in Christ broke the power of the indwelling sin capacity.
APPLICATION:
Christians died in their relationship to sin. We died not for sin but unto it. If Christ broke our relationship to sin by death, we do not live unto sin. This does not mean that Christians have victory over sin. Paul simply answers the charge of verse one that accepting grace means that you can live as you please. This a federal fact relating to our position "in Christ," the Second Adam. This federal fact occurred in the past. The issue is not some state we are in.
v. 2d: live any longer in it?
Death is separation. The Christian died to or separated from the sin capacity in principle at salvation. Our sin capacity is still here but decisively dealt with by Christ on the cross.
The issue here is not occasional sin but willful sin as a pattern of life. The believer cannot be submissive to sin like he was as a non-Christian.
Those "such ones as we" are different having becoming Christians. We must not confound relationship to sin with its presence. We need to distinguish our experience of victory over sin from God's disclosed fact that we died to sin. This idea confounds many because they do not understand the principle of grace. We do not die to sin by our personal experience; we died to sin in Christ's death to pay for our sins.
God left the sin capacity in the believer (1 Jn 1:8). "Death" here does not mean sin is dead in us. The death here is not subjective but objective. It is objectively dead in us. Subjectively, sin is still there. This death occurred in Christ, not in me. It occurred for me but not in me.
Death died already; it is not about to happen in the believer. Sin is not dead in us, we are not dead to sin, and sin is not dying to us. The major surgery that Jesus did on the cross is not necessary to repeat. Christians can sin but not from his constitution ("new man"). Christ did not provide death to sin but for sin.
We need to consider ourselves as entering into a corresponding spiritual state regarding our sin. We do not continue to live the Christian life as if Christ did nothing for us. Freedom from sin is not freedom to sin. Our new position in Christ is a new order to which we respond.
Old order-in Adam (Ro 5:12ff). This is how God views non-Christians.
New order-new man in Christ (Ro 6). This is how God views believers.
PRINCIPLE:
Something decisive happened at the point of our salvation.
APPLICATION:
Sin is a power tempting us rather than a power controlling us. The decisive nature of our salvation and the change that occurred at that point transforms the Christian forever. Something radical happened at salvation. There is a change in outlook and actions once a person becomes a Christian.
Grace does not allow sin to bring us into bondage to sin. God never gives man a blank check to sin without restraint. It is completely outside the scope of grace to give God an opportunity to provide more grace by sinning. The end never justifies the means. The principle of grace never allows for license.
v. 3: Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death?
Romans 6:3-5 and 6-10 explain how the tyranny of sin has been broken for the believer. Verses three to five show how believers died to sin. They died to sin in that they died with Christ when He died. They will be united with Him in His resurrection.
3 Or Paul now introduced the subject of our identification with Christ, our identification with His death.
do you not know
This is an appeal to common knowledge about the Christian faith that they have neglected-our identity with Christ in His death. Identification with Christ was no novel idea. Christian living rests on Christian truth.
that as many of us as were baptized into [into union with] Christ Jesus
Baptism here is not water baptism but taking on a new identity in Christ. The Greek (aorist, passive, indicative) indicates that it was at God's initiative; it was God who did the baptizing of the believer into union with Christ Jesus. This has nothing to do with water baptism.
The word "baptized" is not a translation but a transliteration (the Greek word is flopped into the text without translation). If we were to translate "baptized" we would translate it "identified." Thus, baptism is to enter into the benefits of identification with Christ.
This is radically different than being "in Adam" and identifying (being identified) with him as our federal head. The argument of 5:12-31 revolved around our union with two persons: (1) our identity in Adam and (2) our union or identity with Christ as our Second Adam. This chapter expands the idea of our identity with Christ. Our baptism in Christ signifies our union with Christ.
were baptized into His death?
When we placed trust in Christ's death, we received His identity before God. Our sin capacity is positionally dead in God's eyes. This baptism is not something we can feel or experience directly; it is a provision made by God without our direct knowledge except through revelation.
PRINCIPLE:
If a Christian truly understands his union with Christ, he will apply this daily to his struggle with sin.
APPLICATION:
Antinomianism is not in the God-given DNA of a true believer. Our union with Christ necessarily produces newness of life. Sin does not die to the believer, but the believer has died to sin. Christ's death for sin becomes our death to sin.
v. 4a: 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 Therefore
In this verse Paul developed in further detail the basis for the phrase "we who died to sin" (v. 2). The "therefore" introduces the logical consequence of verse three that we were positionally co-baptized with Christ.
we were buried with [co-buried] Him
Burial indicates the surety of death. It certifies the reality of death itself. We do not bury people alive! Christians have actually died in Christ to their sin capacity. They died positionally to their life in Adam. This is not saying we will die or are about to die, but that we died at some point in the past (at our salvation).
The words "buried with" is one word in the Greek, indicating co-burial. When Christ was buried, we were buried. We share His burial. We have co-community in Christ in the certainty of death to the sin capacity. The epoch of Adam passed away and the epoch of Christ began for the believer by our co-burial with Him.
through [the] baptism into death,
The "the" is not translated but refers to having been "baptized into his death" in verse three.
Baptism is a metaphor here for our entrance into the death of Christ at salvation. The epochal change from Adam to Christ took place when we became Christians.
PRINCIPLE:
The believer has delegated authority from God to live the Christian life based on the finished work of Christ on the cross.
APPLICATION:
The Christian has the authority to live on the certainty of positional death with Christ and with positional resurrection with Christ. It is not a given that Christians will apply these truths to experience, but God gave the possibility to do so. We have a choice to apply positional truth or not to our experience. Christians who consistently apply the principles of the Word to experience are spiritually mature.
v. 4b: that just as Christ was raised [at one point in the past] from [out from] the dead
Here we have another as/so relationship. As Christ was raised out of the dead, so we should walk in newness of life. In contrast to our fallenness in Adam, we should walk in the new epoch of our status in Christ. The new epoch in Christ does not mean an end to the old epoch in Adam. The issue is not sinless conduct but accountable conduct in our new life that reflects newness of life in Christ.
Ro 8: 11 But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.
Eph 2: 6 and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus . . .
by the glory of the Father,
The Father effected the resurrection of Christ. The wonder and majesty-the manifested power-of the Father raised Jesus from the dead.
even so we also should [potential depending on choice] walk [conduct oneself] in newness of life.
The word "newness" carries the idea of something fresh. "Newness" refers to newness of quality or character, not newness in time. Jesus was not merely resuscitated from the dead like Lazarus; He took on a new quality or form of life. He rose never to die again. In the same way Christians have a new quality of life, a new spiritual life. We are now in the new epoch of Christ that transcends our life in Adam. This is the major point of chapter six to this point. Newness of the Christian life is grounded in the resurrection of Christ. Believers share more than the death of Christ; they share a new life with Him.
Newness of life here does not mean to have a new quality of experience or conduct. This is a new quality of life imparted by God to the believer.
Walking is ordering our behavior as a course of life in our new life in Christ. The word "walk" means to walk about, to walk around. This walk has to do with practical or day-by-day sanctification. God expects us to live the Christian life as a course or pattern of life. Christ shared His resurrection so that believers might order their behavior by the new life He provides. Not all Christians will choose to walk in newness of life; it is their choice whether they do so or not (subjunctive mood). The believer has the right to engage in this activity, but walking involves effort.
PRINCIPLE:
We die with Christ in order to live in fellowship through a new life with Him.
APPLICATION:
God's work of salvation in giving the believer a new quality of life by Jesus' resurrection is the operating foundation for the Holy Spirit's work on the believer in sanctification.
Believers enter an entirely new sphere of existence when they become Christians. It is a new quality of spiritual life. Christians can experience progressive sanctification under the principles of the positional truths of death and resurrection with Christ.
v. 5: For if [since] we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection,
5 For
Verse five is the reason behind verse four. Our identity in Christ is symbolized by baptism.
if
The "if" here means since or in view of the fact. It is a fact that Christians were "united together in the likeness of His death" at a point in the past-their salvation. It is a fact or certainty that believers are united with Christ's death and resurrection.
we have been united together,
The word "united" means made to grow together. The idea in classical Greek carries the thought of fusing broken ends of a bone. The idea is close union. Life from Christ runs through Him.
The words "have been" denote an action of the past (salvation) resulting in the state of being united or vitally connected with Christ permanently.
in the likeness of His death
"Likeness" shows our recognition in Christ. Christians have concrete representation in what Christ has done. They have passed from the epoch of Adam to the epoch of new life or capacity in Christ. We are more like Christ than Adam. Christians are fused together with the epoch-ending position in Christ.
Our position in Christ's death and resurrection does not imply that we share Christ's death and resurrection in every respect. Christ was literally buried in the tomb; our burial with Him was metaphorical. His death was physical; ours was not.
certainly we also shall be [logical progression] in the likeness of His resurrection,
The believer's experience with resurrection in Christ is epoch changing. This is the logical inference of our identity in Christ. The death of Christ was not His end; it led to His resurrection. The believer's death to sin resulted in resurrection to the epoch-changing life with Christ. We are now free from the sin capacity in Adam. This is what Paul referred to in Philippians 3:10 as the "power of His resurrection."
The reign of grace has indeed replaced the reign of the sin capacity in Adam (Ro 5:12-21). In this passage, Jesus died "to" sin, not for sin.
PRINCIPLE:
Union with Christ carries with it participation in the prerogatives that He owns.
APPLICATION:
Positional truth of our union with Christ is how God views our status in Christ. God sees us with eternal life now. We have this position forever. We are united or one with Christ forever.
The believer participates in the death and resurrection in the present. The resurrection of Christ brings about the spiritual resurrection of the believer. We can experience resurrection life in time. That is why Christians cannot live an antinomian life; we have new life and new capacity in Christ. The Christian begins this new life immediately upon salvation. We die with Christ, then we live with Him. This is a vital, living union with Christ. That is a new type of life. We order our lives as Christians in the power of this new life.
Every believer knows what it is to struggle with sin daily. We know about the forgiveness of the penalty of our sin on the cross. Few, however, know what positionally happened on the cross to their sin capacity inherited from Adam, when at their salvation a new capacity was launched in Christ. The new capacity is a restraint on sin.
v. 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.
Verse six is a development of the truth regarding the believer's death and resurrection in Christ from the previous verses.
6 knowing this,
"Knowing" is a deduction from 6:1-5. Paul is still dealing with the antinomianism of verse one that seeks to abuse God's super-grace (5:20) in sinful living.
that our old man
The "old man" here is what we were in Adam before we became Christians; the new is what we are now in Christ. This identification with our life in Adam was broken by our identification with Christ's death. We now have a new identity in Christ. Christians have now been incorporated into His status, a new order before God.
Eph 2: 15 having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace . . .
was crucified with Him,
This phrase is literally "was crucified together." The "old man" was crucified together with Christ. This was an act of pure grace for our behalf.
Our capacity to sin was not crucified with Christ, but our life in Adam was crucified with Him. Only our Lord can do crucifixion.
The essence of overcoming sin is not the killing off of the old self. The Bible never asserts that we are to crucify the old man, because he was already crucified when Christ was crucified.
that [purpose] the body of sin
The "body of sin" means our physical body that is ruled by sin. It is the system of our old desires or our capacity to sin.
might be done away with,
The power of controlling sin on the believer's life was broken at salvation. We can translate these words might be rendered inoperative, nullified, or paralyzed. The idea is that God rendered the body of sin ineffective from a positional perspective. The super-grace in Christ of Romans 5:12-21 makes what we were in Adam powerless. The proclivity to sin was rendered inoperative. There was a change in orientation by becoming a Christian.
that [purpose] we should no longer be slaves of sin.
Those who died or were crucified with Christ are freed from the power of sin. Christians have entered into a new order as over against the old order in Adam.
PRINCIPLE:
Christ changed the corporate structure to which Christians belong.
APPLICATION:
The Christian's "old man" was corporately dealt with by Christ's crucifixion. This finished our status in Adam. Non-Christians do not operate under Christ's super-grace (5:20). They do not possess the freedom of grace in Christ. The new man is someone who is under the umbrella of grace.
The idea of this verse is that the Christian has been freed from the principle of sin because of God's provision of grace through Christ. It does not mean that it is possible to be free from sin while he or she lives on earth. Grace liberates the believer to relate to God. We are free to relate to God because of what Christ did, not because of what we do. Christians have a completely new orientation because we have been incorporated into Christ's status before God.
v. 7: For he who has died has been freed from sin.
7 For
The "for" indicates the ground for verse six. Christians should no longer sin because they died with Christ and died to their heritage in Adam. They are now associated with Christ. We are incorporated into Christ.
he who has died
Death here does not refer to physical death but our death with Christ on the cross. We have forgiveness because of this. We have no liability before God any more.
Unregenerate people are slaves to sin. God frees from sin a person who believes in the cross to forgive sin. The "old man" was co-crucified with Christ, forming the basis for liberty.
has been freed from sin.
The words "has been freed" are from the word for justification-has been declared righteous. The Greek tense indicates past completed action with continuing results. That is, sin no longer has legal right to control the believer. God declares a person who died with Christ free from sin. The believer no longer has to answer legally for his sin, because Christ met that legal requirement on the cross. Jesus paid our debt to sin fully.
The concept of grace (Ro 5:12-21) cannot lead to sinful behavior (v. 1) because the believer has been freed from sin. We are not free from the presence of sin but from its power. Freedom from the principle of sin necessarily involves freedom from its power. Its effect is greater than forensic; there is a transformation aspect to salvation.
PRINCIPLE:
The justified person no longer delights in sin because it violates his Savior.
APPLICATION:
Since the "old man" was put to death, it is no longer necessary for the Christian to continue in bondage to sin. Christ set us free. Christians no longer feel at home with sin. Positional truth demands a life lived in appreciation to Jesus the Lord.
A dead person no longer pays taxes; he is free from his life's responsibilities. He no longer has obligations to his former life. This is true in the physical life and in the spiritual life. The believer who uses grace as an excuse to sin does not represent his new life in Christ in doing so.
v. 8: Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him,
8 Now
"Now" advances the argument. We cannot separate forgiveness of sin from the spiritual life of walking daily with the Lord.
if [since] we died
We "died" with Christ at one point in the past (aorist indicative). It is already a fact that believers died when Christ died. This is just one of a series of point actions in the past by Christ on our behalf that we have seen in this chapter (vv. 2, 3, 4, 6). We died by virtue of the truth that Jesus died for us. However, our death with Christ is not an end in itself; we died with Christ for a purpose-ongoing life of fellowship with Christ.
with Christ,
The "with" in the phrase "with Christ" carries the idea of our having died in company with. We were in the company of Christ when He died.
Co 2: 13 And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses . . .
Co 3: 3 For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.
we believe [keep on believing] that we shall also live with Him,
Paul changed the emphasis here from dying with Christ to living with Him. Since it is an accomplished fact that we hold the status of having died with Christ, then it follows that we will "live together with Him." The word "also" implies that, in addition to living the resurrection life in time, we will live with Jesus in eternity. Resurrection life begins at salvation and will continue into eternity. We participate in His resurrection life in time and eternity.
PRINCIPLE:
Living with Christ in eternity should start with living with Him now.
APPLICATION:
Our life with Christ now will be more wonderful when we spend eternity with Him. However, why not start to enjoy life with Christ now? It is a necessary outcome of a person becoming a Christian that he fellowship with the Lord. There is no justification that, since God gives super-grace (Ro 5:20), we abuse that grace because of what our wonderful Lord accomplished for us.
v. 9: knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him.
9 knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead,
"Knowing" is self-evident truth. It is common knowledge that once Christ was raised from the dead He will never die again. This is an obvious fact that no one disputes. The Christian life always rests on knowledge, upon fact. We must know something before we can live the Christian life.
dies no more.
The resurrection of Jesus means no more death both for Him and His followers. The event of Christ's resurrection and our association with it is irreversible. This can never be undone.
Ac 2: 24 whom God raised up, having loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible that He should be held by it.
Death no longer has dominion [mastery] over Him.
Death rules human beings but it did not rule Jesus; He defeated death's power by His resurrection. Christ supremely put death to death. Although death is a power, it was defeated in Christ's death and resurrection. There is no more death for Him or for us.
PRINCIPLE:
The death and resurrection of Jesus is the key to Christian living.
APPLICATION:
Walking in a life that originates in the risen Christ is conduct that pleases God. Jesus ever lives presently in heaven interceding for us.
He 7: 24 But He, because He continues forever, has an unchangeable priesthood. 25 Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.
We daily fellowship with the Lord by confessing our sin. When we do this, Jesus makes intercession for us. He pleads His own blood as adequate justification for our forgiveness. This is fellowship.
v. 10a: For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God.
This verse is a summary of the argument of chapter six to this point. The dominion of death ended with Jesus' work on the cross once and for all.
10 For the death that He died,
This is the physical death of Jesus.
He died [at one point in the past; a single event] to sin once for all;
When Jesus died physically on the cross, He died in reference to sin once and for all. The Greek word "once" indicates that Christ's death for sin is never to be repeated. Some churches believe that Jesus offers a perpetual sacrifice for sin. This is error.
"Once" in this phrase means once for all. It is an event that never needs to happen again. This was an irreversible event dealing with sin, never to be repeated again. His death was a single event whereby God dealt with all sins for all people forever. Jesus never needs to repeat death again or ever die again. Jesus' sacrifice need not and cannot be repeated. There is no need for God to inflict a penalty again. Note the word "once" in the following passages:
He 7: 27 who does not need daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifices, first for His own sins and then for the people's, for this He did once for all when He offered up Himself.
He 9: 12 Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption.
He 9: 26 He then would have had to suffer often since the foundation of the world; but now, once at the end of the ages, He has appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. 27 And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment, 28 so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many. To those who eagerly wait for Him He will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation.
He 10: 10 By that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
1 Pe 3: 18 For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit,
By Jesus' death "to sin," His entire relationship to the penalty of sin ended. He no longer needed to voluntarily pay any further price for the sin of mankind. Jesus satisfied the righteous demand of God regarding payment for sin. His death dealt with the sin issue decisively. He forever ended the sin issue by meeting the Father's legal demand, paying the penalty of sin for all mankind by death. Jesus died once, for all and forever. Nothing can be added to His sacrificial death. To add anything to the finished work of Christ is to diminish the finished aspect of it.
PRINCIPLE:
Jesus forever broke the sin issue before God for all and for eternity.
APPLICATION:
Jesus broke the despair that comes with death. Christ's death "once for all" marked the end to eternal death for the believer. No one ever has to deal with sin and its death-dealing effect again. Jesus' death was a once and for all event on behalf of the believer.
v. 10b: but the life that He lives [keeps on living His resurrection life], He lives [keeps on living] to God.
On the contrary and by contrast, eternal life follows Jesus' one-time death, and He keeps on living (present tense) by resurrection life in time and eternity. Death no longer has any power over the Lord Jesus. The resurrection life of Christ is eternal in quality and everlasting in length.
Re 1: 18 I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of Hades and of Death.
Jesus' death had to do with sin, whereas His resurrection life has to do with living for God's glory in a particular sense.
PRINCIPLE:
Our identification in living with Christ necessarily involves living "to God."
APPLICATION:
Just as Jesus lived His life to God, so the believer must do the same. When it comes to living to God, Christians should share the same dynamics as their Lord. Death has no dominion over the daily life of the believer. Christians can appropriate that power in our daily issues. No matter how bleak our past, we can live in the resurrected life of Christ in time. The believer operates on two different kinds of positional truth:
Christ paid for our sins once and forever on the cross-we have the status of identity with Christ when He died.
Christ lives a resurrected life before God, interceding for the believer-Christ continually intercedes for us because of our status as resurrected with Him.
Christians have the ongoing power of Jesus' resurrection to live their Christian lives in time.
v. 11: Likewise you also, reckon [keep on reckoning] yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive [ongoing] to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
This verse shifts the emphasis from the fact of what Christ did to what we should do about what He did. Beginning with this verse there are four commands whereby the believer is to act on what he knows. Three verbs demonstrate our responsibility: "reckon," "let," "present" (or yield). The shift to imperatives is a turning point in Romans.
In this verse we are to "reckon" or count on two things:
that we are dead to sin, and
that we are alive to God.
11a Likewise [thus] you also,
Christians are to "likewise" consider that what was true of Christ is also true of us (vv. 6-10). "Likewise" is an inference from verses 1 to 10. "Also" indicates that Christians are to function like Christ. Our relationship to sin is exactly like Christ's. We are no longer in Adam; we are now in Christ. His act of death to sin involves everyone who is in Him.
reckon [calculate continually] yourselves
The believer is to "reckon" something. This is a term of faith where we count something as true. It is not enough to understand verses 1 to 10; we need to believe them as true. The word "reckon" means to calculate or compute something as true. As an accounting term it carries the idea of put to an account.
Since Christ died for sin, all His association with sin was broken forever. He died "unto" sin, and because Christians are united to Him and His death, they died "unto" sin as well. Our relation to sin is exactly the same as His-we are dead unto sin.
"Reckon" is a command (imperative) and is not an option. By reckoning ourselves dead with Christ we answer God's reckoning us righteous. We are to do this with daily application (present tense). The Christian is no passive object in the process. His responsibility is to calculate something as true. He lives in the light of the death and resurrection of Christ. His death already defeated sin's reign.
"Reckon" is a command that we keep performing upon ourselves (middle voice). The word "reckon" is a term of reality; we deal with something that is actually true. In bookkeeping, we enter into the ledger only the exact amount we possess. The next two phrases show us what is factual and real.
We are to reckon on a regular basis (present tense). God expects us to maintain what we have before Him positionally-we died at one point to sin forever.
God does not say we should reckon sin dead but "yourselves" dead to it. Since we are in Christ as our federal head, we are to regard ourselves as dead in Him as our representative.
PRINCIPLE:
Christians are to continually parlay their position in Christ to their daily spiritual lives.
APPLICATION:
There is a difference between our position and our condition. What Jesus did for us in grace never changes. Our standing before God is eternal, but the state of our Christian living is a dynamic that does change. The idea is this: "Since what Christ has done for us is a settled fact, start acting like what we are." We are free to live the Christian life because of what Christ has done.
Christians cannot live a spiritual life without faith. If we revert to a struggle with sin, then there is no hope for victory. The deciding factor is not our work but the work of God for us. We live by faith in both justification and sanctification.
v. 11b: to be dead indeed to sin [Greek-on the one hand],
"Dead" here does not refer to the process of dying but to the state of death. Christ previously accomplished the state of death to sin. He was our substitute who paid the penalty for us. He represented us on the cross. God does not tell us to die to sin but to calculate what Jesus did in His death for us, in which we are "dead to sin." We are dead in His death. The first thing we are to compute in God's economy is that we are dead to sin. We are to fully affirm this as true.
Christians are to calculate the truth as true for themselves that Jesus died to sin and came alive in His resurrection. Believers died to the fact of sin in Christ. We need to recognize that and live our new life in Christ in light of that fact. This does not mean that we are invulnerable to sin; we are indeed vulnerable to sin. It means we died to our old life in Adam by regeneration. We need to keep this before us in Christian living.
PRINCIPLE:
Christians forever died to sin by Christ's death on the cross.
APPLICATION:
The issue for Christians is not dying to sin by what we do, such as praying, confessing sin, or struggling with sin. That is not the argument here. We can never be dead to sin in the sense of being immune to temptation. We are dead unto sin in that Christ paid for it totally on the cross. This is true because Christ is our federal head.
The idea here does means to die to sin, because it is a fact that we died to sin in Christ; it is not some possibility. We cannot do what is already done for us. Neither does this mean to compute some force in us as dead, for Christ broke the force of sin (v. 6). In addition, calculating ourselves dead to sin does not make or cause us to be dead to sin. That is the opposite of what the passage says. Finally, reckoning ourselves dead to sin does not mean that we are dead to sin only as long as we master sin.
Since the point at which Christ died in our stead, the Father has seen us in Christ, identified with Him as our federal head. Since God deems us in Him, death does not have dominion over us. He satisfied every claim of sin against us.
Reckoning does not make us dead to sin but is a command in view of the fact that we are dead to sin. Feelings have nothing to do with this; facts are facts. Faith honors the facts of God's promises but feelings avoid faith.
Today we come to the second area we are to compute as a fact.
v. 11c: but [Greek-on the other hand] alive [continually] to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
There is another dimension to our association with Christ-the believer has the newness of the resurrection-life ("alive unto God"). These truths are not an issue of experience but of fact.
Note the contrasting language in this verse that was not translated in our English Bibles: "on the one hand...on the other hand." There is a contrast between calculating our sins dead in Christ and, on the other hand, reckoning ourselves alive to spiritual life in God.
Another dimension that Christians are to calculate for themselves is that they are currently alive to God. We currently share the resurrection of Christ in our spiritual life. Christians live differently in relation to the power of sin. Sin is dead in principle by our identification with Christ's death, and we are alive to God in principle.
We compute ourselves "alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord." This is how God unites us with the resurrection of Christ (v. 5). This is a resurrection of the present life. We must count this to be true in daily living.
Notice the full title of Christ-"Christ Jesus our Lord." It is through His glorious person and sovereignty that we are "alive unto God." By virtue of our status "in" Christ Jesus our Lord, we are to compute that we are alive to God.
PRINCIPLE:
Calculation of our status with God rests on our identification with Christ's death and resurrection.
APPLICATION:
God's grace on our behalf requires humble response by faith. This is a proper corollary to grace. Faith engages God's grace by calculating what He did as true in our experience. We can share in the epoch intervention of Christ into the world. We can begin in this life by a decisive act of reckoning to benefit from what Christ did in His resurrection. We are able to share what Christ did in our lifetime. Believers need to become what they are in Christ.
Co 3: 1 If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. 2 Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. 3 For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.
The difference is that God put new life in our souls, and this is called regeneration. Although sanctification does not inevitably follow from justification, the regenerative aspect to justification is a compelling factor in sanctification.
v. 12: Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts.
With verse 12 the discussion moves from our union with Christ to how to live daily under our position in Christ.
12 Therefore
The "therefore" here is the conclusion from verse 11, not further reflection. After we "reckon" ourselves by faith positionally dead with Christ, we have the responsibility to deal with sin controlling our lives.
Christians can exercise their volition against sin and not let it dominate their lives. There is a close connection between our status with God and what we do with that status.
do not let [present tense-ongoing] sin reign [as king]
God commands us (imperative mood) to not let "sin reign" in our mortal bodies. We can translate the Greek as: "Stop letting sin reign in your mortal body." The words "stop letting" is an issue of volition. The assumption is that sin reigns already in the believer and he needs to stop letting it happen.
The word "let" assumes sin is still in the life of the believer. Sin is still a force in the Christian life but it is not absolute. There is no need to live as a slave to sin. The idea that "let" is a command challenges us to become what we are. We live our daily lives on the truth that we died to sin and are alive to God (v. 11).
Sin is personified as a dethroned King who seeks his throne, his former place of reigning. Sin lost its reign when the believer became identified with Christ. We saw the idea of "reign" in 5:21:
Ro 5: 21 so that as sin reigned in death, even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
The contrast is between sin reigning and grace reigning. The theme running through chapters five and six is living out the grace of God. Grace always precedes its application to life. Christians live under the giving grace of God, which does not allow sin to become our master.
in your mortal [dying] body [life],
"Mortal body" here is not simply the physical body but the man as a whole, including the body itself. Sin is a temporary dynamic; we need to keep eternal values in view. It is a dynamic that will pass away with time. The Christian has an immortal soul but not an immortal body. Our body is not yet redeemed.
Note the plural "your" and the singular "body." "Body" here refers to the believer's current life in time walking with the Lord.
PRINCIPLE:
All Christians struggle against sin all their lives.
APPLICATION:
There is no such thing as perfectionism in the Christian life; however, there is such a thing as victory over sin. It is possible for sin to reign or dominate a Christian. Some give themselves to cravings and lusts. There is a defeatism in some believers because they cannot measure up to their own false assumption of perfectionistic standards.
It is not necessary for sin to dominate the Christian life. We now have new life in Christ and the power that comes with that. The argument of Romans six is about dealing with sin biblically. As we will see in coming studies, we can offer ourselves as instruments of righteousness to God (v. 13).
v. 12b: that you should obey it in its lusts.
If we let "sin reign" we obey its lusts. Sin will enslave us if we let it. Sin can reign when we obey it. Freedom from sin comes from not obeying it. Obedience to lusts is an issue of the will; it is possible for a believer to put sin back on the throne of his life.
"Lusts" are desires, longings. Either we give our allegiance to lusts or to the one who died for us. We are identified with Him forever. It is an issue of appetite, of whether we have an appetite for fellowship with the Lord or an appetite to indulge our flesh.
PRINCIPLE:
Positionally, we stand perfect before God; conditionally, sin is very active within us.
APPLICATION:
When we give in to the lusts of the body and soul, we enter something that is dying and decaying-something that is mortal. Sanctification apart from our position in Christ is legalism; sanctification by applying our position to experience is to operate on the grace principle. Grace means God does the doing; He is the provider of what we need to live the Christian life.
After extended periods of victory in his life David committed adultery and murder, yet he returned to fellowship with God (Pss. 32, 51). For a period he obeyed lusts in his soul; they mastered him for a period. He was also keenly aware of God's grace upon his life after he sinned as evidenced by Psalm 51. By God's grace He broke the mastery of sin over the believer. Sin is a dethroned king. We need to keep it from assuming its throne in our heart again.
v. 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.
Verse 13 is a development of verse 12, explaining how a Christian does not obey the lusts of the previous verse.
13 And do not present [present tense-ongoing]
The Greek idea of "present" is to stand before. Christians are not to stand before our members to offer them continually (present tense) as instruments of sin. This would be submission to a power by obedience. It is easy to put our faculties at the disposal of unrighteousness.
your members
Our "members" are the faculties by which we navigate our lives. This is the metaphorical use of "members."
as instruments of unrighteousness to sin,
The Greek used "instruments" in the military context for implements of war, weapons or armor.
"Unrighteousness" stands for wickedness of any kind, anything that positions itself in opposition to God's righteousness. Sin can be vigorous against the believer from a number of approaches.
but
The word "but" here shows sharp contrast, saying in effect, "On the contrary, offer your members to something entirely different." There is no middle ground between presenting ourselves available to sin and to God. We yield to one side or the other.
present [decisive action] yourselves [parallel to "members"] to God
We are to stand before God willing to do His will at any point a decision is necessary.
The Greek (aorist imperative) indicates we present ourselves to God decisively. This is not something we meander into. Offering ourselves to God requires decisive commitment. What we present is ourselves, which is parallel to our "members."
The idea of "presenting yourselves" here is not consecration as a one-time event. We do not get complete victory over sin when we do this. It is something we do each time we get out of fellowship with the Lord. The idea is more about applying the principle behind the facts of the first part of this chapter: "Recognize what God has done for you in Christ and apply that to your experience. You are risen in Christ; act like a resurrected believer with new life in Christ."
v. 12b: as [as if] being alive from the dead,
"As" means "as if." Christians are to operate like people raised with Christ. We are to know our status with God; we have "newness of life" in Christ. Our conduct derives from our identity with Christ. We need to identity with an event already past.
and your members as instruments of righteousness to God.
Righteousness is not something under our control but something by which we should be controlled. It is the righteousness in which we stand, our position in Christ for eternity. Since Christians have died to sin with Christ, we are dead in our position but not in our condition. In one sense Christians are dead and in another we are not.
PRINCIPLE:
Christians are not to present themselves at the disposal of sin but at the disposal of God.
APPLICATION:
We Christians are not to take command of our lives as a weapon for sin. We put ourselves at the disposal of God, who gave us status with Himself. We can be a weapon at the hands of God or the hands of sin.
If Christians do not adjust their lives to living a Christian life by positional truth, we will live mediocre existences. That adjustment is connecting to our status with God and applying it to experience. If we do not take into account that we are dead to sin and alive to God, there is no true Christian living. Everything else is religion and legalism if we don't.
The issue of not allowing sin to "reign" in our lives has to do with dominance. This is not a denial that sin will be in our lives, but a question of whether it will control our lives. That is why we offer ourselves to God without qualification on each occasion of getting out of fellowship with God. When we yield ourselves to God at any point of spiritual conflict, our members becomes instruments that God uses.
v. 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.
Verse 13 is a development of verse 12, explaining how a Christian does not obey the lusts of the previous verse.
13 And do not present [present tense-ongoing]
The Greek idea of "present" is to stand before. Christians are not to stand before our members to offer them continually (present tense) as instruments of sin. This would be submission to a power by obedience. It is easy to put our faculties at the disposal of unrighteousness.
your members
Our "members" are the faculties by which we navigate our lives. This is the metaphorical use of "members."
as instruments of unrighteousness to sin,
The Greek used "instruments" in the military context for implements of war, weapons or armor.
"Unrighteousness" stands for wickedness of any kind, anything that positions itself in opposition to God's righteousness. Sin can be vigorous against the believer from a number of approaches.
but
The word "but" here shows sharp contrast, saying in effect, "On the contrary, offer your members to something entirely different." There is no middle ground between presenting ourselves available to sin and to God. We yield to one side or the other.
present [decisive action] yourselves [parallel to "members"] to God
We are to stand before God willing to do His will at any point a decision is necessary.
The Greek (aorist imperative) indicates we present ourselves to God decisively. This is not something we meander into. Offering ourselves to God requires decisive commitment. What we present is ourselves, which is parallel to our "members."
The idea of "presenting yourselves" here is not consecration as a one-time event. We do not get complete victory over sin when we do this. It is something we do each time we get out of fellowship with the Lord. The idea is more about applying the principle behind the facts of the first part of this chapter: "Recognize what God has done for you in Christ and apply that to your experience. You are risen in Christ; act like a resurrected believer with new life in Christ."
as [as if] being alive from the dead,
"As" means "as if." Christians are to operate like people raised with Christ. We are to know our status with God; we have "newness of life" in Christ. Our conduct derives from our identity with Christ. We need to identity with an event already past.
and your members as instruments of righteousness to God.
Righteousness is not something under our control but something by which we should be controlled. It is the righteousness in which we stand, our position in Christ for eternity. Since Christians have died to sin with Christ, we are dead in our position but not in our condition. In one sense Christians are dead and in another we are not.
PRINCIPLE:
Christians are not to present themselves at the disposal of sin but at the disposal of God.
APPLICATION:
We Christians are not to take command of our lives as a weapon for sin. We put ourselves at the disposal of God, who gave us status with Himself. We can be a weapon at the hands of God or the hands of sin.
If Christians do not adjust their lives to living a Christian life by positional truth, we will live mediocre existences. That adjustment is connecting to our status with God and applying it to experience. If we do not take into account that we are dead to sin and alive to God, there is no true Christian living. Everything else is religion and legalism if we don't.
The issue of not allowing sin to "reign" in our lives has to do with dominance. This is not a denial that sin will be in our lives, but a question of whether it will control our lives. That is why we offer ourselves to God without qualification on each occasion of getting out of fellowship with God. When we yield ourselves to God at any point of spiritual conflict, our members becomes instruments that God uses.
v. 14: For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace.
This verse has two "for" clauses. The first "for" declares that the lordship of sin over Christians has ended. The second "for" shows the reason why the lordship of sin is over. We are not under the legal principle of the law, which demands duty, but under grace that confers God's unconditional blessing.
14 For
Verse 14 is the ground for all the statements in verses 11 to 13. Sin's domination is broken through the death and resurrection of Christ. This is the reason for the previous exhortation to "present" or yield ourselves to God. Because sin no longer has dominion over Christians, we are free to live under God's blessings.
sin shall not have dominion [lordship] over you,
The future tense here is logical progression-this is a promise of victory over sin arising out of an epoch dominated by grace, the epoch of grace. Jesus fulfilled the epoch of the law in every respect. Sin is an alien power to the epoch of grace.
for
This "for" shows the reason sin's domination over the believer is broken. Christians are no longer under the era dominated by Adam or the Mosaic law but under the epoch of grace.
This flies in the face of those who say grace is the basis for licentiousness (6:1). On the contrary, grace is the basis for triumph over sin. Paul raised this question again in the next verse (v.15).
you are not under [the authority of] law
Those under the epoch of grace no longer owe allegiance to the epoch of the law. The "law" here is the Mosaic law. That law no longer has the right to exercise authority over the believer under grace. The epoch of the law was dominated by being "in Adam." The Mosaic law pertained to the nation Israel, not the church. Freedom in Christ means deliverance, whether for the Jew under the law or for the race under Adam. God delivers us from the attempt to measure up to His standards. The issue is not behaving but believing. Behaving will follow believing because of the effect of God's grace on the life of the believer.
PRINCIPLE:
There is no probation for a believer before God.
APPLICATION:
The nature of grace is that God acts freely, according to His nature. He has no obligation to fulfill; grace is therefore uncaused in the recipient and the cause is wholly in the giver. The believer's place is "in Christ," which gives us an eternal standing before God. The Christian, therefore, is not under probation. God never withdraws His grace.
God never accepts us conditionally. God does what He does eternally. Even He cannot undo it. God never leaves eternal issues to feeble man. God never leaves His accomplishment to man. Grace is man's only hope because God never withdraws His grace. The believer is never under the law as a condition of acceptance with God. Grace enables the believer to be fully acceptable to God.
The grace concept originates in God's own nature and is uncaused in the recipient. The cause lies in God, not in the recipient. Therefore, any system of human work dishonors God. Grace alone inclines the believer toward God. Grace does not owe anything; there is no obligation it has yet to pay. That is why grace does not act where it rests on man's desert. There is no cause in man that causes God to give His grace. It is humbling to find that our acceptance to God rests on something other than who or what we are. This is the reason men hate grace; they have to humble themselves before God to receive it.
v. 14b: but under grace.
The two phrases "under law" and "under grace" are antithetical. If we are under the one, we are not under the other. They refer to two eras in God's plan. One era is the Mosaic law and the other is the era of grace. Living under the Mosaic law is living under the power of sin. Living under grace has the additional power of the indwelling Holy Spirit (8:4) to enable Christians to live the Christian life.
Ga 5: 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
Paul developed the connection between grace and the Spirit in chapter eight.
The word "under" in "under grace" indicates that grace will have the controlling sway in Christian living. It will have the decisive control over the believer to subject him to the plan of God. The grace way of life is a totally different system than the law way of life. God's "grace" is a promise already enacted. He provides grace to live now just like we will live with Him in the future.
PRINCIPLE:
Grace is the counter-power to the power of sin.
APPLICATION:
Grace is so powerful that it breaks the dominion of sin. Grace goes beyond forgiveness of sin; it involves transfer of power. That power breaks the dominion of sin; the believer is no longer under the tyranny of sin.
Those who refuse to admit their spiritual bankruptcy hold animosity to the principle of grace. Christians cannot comply to God through law keeping. The law functions under precepts but grace operates under principles.
The law brings condemnation to those under the law in Adam. God gives grace to those in Christ; Christians no longer live under the condemnation of the law but in a new relationship to Christ. This affords the believer ability to offer himself or herself to God to freely fellowship with Him. God gives the power to live for Him by grace. As the old hymn says:
"He breaks the power of cancelled sin."
The law cannot justify a sinner or sanctify a saint. It fails at both. The grace of God can do what the law cannot. It sets the believer free from both the penalty and power of sin. God is the one who supplies the necessary means through the grace concept.
