Life Project Blog

Romans 6:15-23

No! We are not free to sin; we are free from sin… and the difference between these two is huge.

In these verses, Paul is explaining what he spoke of in our previous passage when he presented us with a command and a choice. This time, he uses slavery as his illustration.

First, in verse 16 he explains what he meant in his use of the word “offer”.

Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one you obey—whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness?

Of course, in verse 17 he points out that as followers of Christ, we have given ourselves to Him; not to sin, and therefore we are now “slaves” to righteousness (v. 18).

What good ever came from offering ourselves as slaves to sin? No good at all, we earned death. Now, Jesus has set us free from all of that, and we are called upon to offer ourselves as slaves to righteousness (to continue Paul’s metaphor) and righteousness brings eternal life. So now, let’s pause for a moment; remember those phrases from last time; here they are again:

… count yourselves dead to sin … do not let sin reign… Do not offer any part of yourself to sin … offer yourselves to God… offer every part of yourself to him…

Now, remember what they have in common: They are commands that leave us with a choice; follow the command or don’t follow it. What will we decide?

OK, dear reader, let’s sit down and figure it out together: Which way is better: The way of sin that leads to death, or the way of righteousness that leads to eternal life? Here, to help get the conversation started, I’ll throw in my two cents:

Death sucks; I’d much rather have eternal life.

Yes, OK fine; I’ll admit that maybe I’m simplifying things just a bit, but really, it’s a no-brainer.

For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (6:23)

Paul’s point is so very simple; in fact it is so simple that I’m not sure that many of us really take it seriously enough. Grace has set us free from the sin that once dominated our lives so that we are now free to choose whether to follow the old ways that lead to death or the new way that leads to life. Life is better than death, so choose the new way and receive life. Not really taking this very seriously, this is where we say, “But it’s too hard!”

Before we go any further, what is the point Paul is making in this third main section− anybody remember?

It is that the power of grace gives us complete victory over sin. His first point in proving this is that sin is still relevant. We are in the middle of his second supporting point which is that grace brings us victory over sin. I would say that so far he is doing a good job of making the case that grace gives victory over sin, wouldn’t you?  We have not yet finished the second supporting point and there is still a third supporting point, so let’s try not to jump into the “it’s too hard” stuff just yet; that discussion is yet to come.

When we get back together, let’s dive into 7:1-6 where Paul will show us how we can obey God…

Romans 6:1-14

Last time, we covered the first four verses of this section (6:1-4) where the idea of being dead to the old way of living was introduced; now in the rest of the passage Paul develops this idea further beginning with verse 5:

Paul continues with the idea of having died with Christ as he moves from the picture of baptism to that of having been crucified with Christ. In this imagery, he reasons that since our old selves were crucified with Christ, our old selves died, and thus we are set free from the sin that ruled over us, so that now, united with Christ in His resurrection, we are free to live for God.

Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God.

Romans 6:8-10

These verses reflect the key point that Paul is making here: just as Christ died when His mortal human body was put to death, so also was our old self put to death when we decided to believe Him. Just as Christ rose from the grave, so also we rose again from baptism to be born again with an entirely new kind of life within us in the Person of the Holy Spirit. He continues…

In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness. For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace.

Romans 6:11-14

Let’s consider the following phrases from 11-14:

… count yourselves dead to sin … do not let sin reign… Do not offer any part of yourself to sin … offer yourselves to God… offer every part of yourself to him…

Does anyone see a pattern here?

These little bits of text have something in common: They are commands that leave us with a choice to make. The choice is whether or not we will follow the command.

Jesus has entirely set us free from the oppression of sin; let it go so you can live a new life: This is Paul’s teaching on the subject of sin.

Before you say I’m crazy, consider one other point: Did you notice the way Paul is referring to “sin”? He isn’t speaking of it in the sense of rules and violations here; no, he is almost personifying it as a person or force of some kind. In that sense, it has no power over you any more, unless you allow it. (“Do not offer any part of yourself to sin”…”offer yourself to God”)

How can this be? How can I just be done with sin?

(Hint: you have a whole new life within you)

You see dear reader, in Christ, you are not under law, but under grace; offer yourself to God− He’s waiting for you.

Paul will explain more about that in the next section and we will discuss it next time.

We have now completed the first two main sections of Romans, and so far we have discovered that no one can be saved by the law, for the law condemns us all (1:18-3:20). In the second section, we discovered that grace takes our sin away, thus bringing about our justification before God (3:21 – 5:21). Both of the first two sections relate to our outward problem of sin, but there is much more to grace than the simple removal of sin; it has an inward aspect as well.

Once our sin has been removed and we are justified before God through grace, there is much work to be done for forgiveness of sin is not the end of the story but rather it is the beginning. In fact, it is entirely possible for a reasonable man or woman to read our discussions about grace and in all seriousness to ask if it matters what we do from this point forward, after all our sins are forgiven anyway. Why should we obey the teachings of Jesus? Does it make any difference how we live? Can’t I just do my own thing? If my sins are forgiven, who cares?

Paul answers to these questions are found in the third section of Romans, which covers chapters 6-8, and as we will see, grace is a double cure.

To put this another way, in the last section, Paul demonstrated that grace provided justification for sins, in this section Paul will demonstrate that grace provides total victory over sin. Once again, there are three main points in the argument: First in 6:1 – 7:13 he will show that grace does not render sin irrelevant. The second point in 7:14 – 8:13, shows us that grace gives us victory in our struggle against sin, and finally in 8:14-39 we will see that grace’s total and complete victory over sin is assured.

What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.

Romans 6:1-4

With these words, Paul launches his argument that sin is not irrelevant because of grace. No, we don’t keep on sinning so that we might receive even more grace, how can we do such a thing?

What exactly and precisely, does it mean for us to be “born again”?

The answer is in these verses: We are baptized into Jesus’ death; this is where the “old me” died with Him. When Jesus was placed into the tomb, He was most assuredly dead, but then a curious thing happened: He rose from the dead. When I was baptized, they put me under the water and then a curious thing happened to me also: I came up out of the water a new man: I was born again. I was a new creation because I went under without the Holy Spirit, and I rose up with the Holy Spirit within me; “sin” remained behind. (see also Acts 2:38) You see, when I was baptized, not only was my sin stricken from my “permanent record” I became a new person. As a new person, why would I want to run back to the old way? That would be stupid!

Paul expands on this thought in verses 5-14, so we aren’t finished with this quite yet, but I think I’ll end for now and let you have a little time to ponder this. We’ll pick up with verse 5 next time…

We have now completed the second main section of the book of Romans, and I thought this would be an opportune moment to pause and regroup. The purpose for writing this section was to demonstrate that while humanity, both Jew and Gentile, is in a bad place, being under condemnation from God, there is a way to overcome that bad position: Grace.

To make his case, Paul made three points in his argument: First, that grace provides justification for our sins (Romans 3:21-31). Then he demonstrates that Abraham was found righteous because of his faith (Romans 4). Finally, Paul shows us that our justification by grace through faith is assured (Romans 5).

His first point, in 3:21-31, that grace provides justification for our sins, is backed up by 5 points and thus, his argument looks like this:

Proposition: Grace provides justification for sins. (3:21 – 5:21)

1. Grace as justification for sin is by faith in Jesus Christ (3:21-31)
2. Grace has now been fully revealed to us through Jesus Christ. (3:21-23)
3. Sinners are justified by the blood of Jesus Christ (3:24-26)
4. Sinners are justified apart from works of the Law (3:27-28)
5. Grace is available to all people (3:29-30)
6. Law is upheld by the proper working of grace (3:31)

If you look carefully at these points, you will easily see that Paul has made a compelling argument that grace provides us justification for our sins by faith in Jesus Christ. Notice how he really zeroes in on his target here; there are no sidebars or detours in his argumentation. Now, let’s have a look at his second point:

Proposition: Grace provides justification for sins. (3:21 – 5:21)

2. Abraham was found righteous because of his faith (Romans 4)
3. Abraham was justified by faith apart from works of the law (4:1-5)
4. David explained and confirmed justification by faith apart from works of the law (4:6-8)
5. Membership in Abraham’s family is by faith and not by circumcision which is a work of law (4:9-12)
6. The blessings promised to Abraham come by faith and not by works of the law (4:13-17a)
7. Faith means believing God’s promises (4:17n-22)
8. Those who believe like Abraham are justified like Abraham (4:23-25)

Once again, looking at Paul’s argument, we can see that he is relentless in proving his point that Abraham was found righteous in God’s sight (justification) in spite of his sins, because of his faith. We can also see that in the process of making this argument, Paul has blown up the notion that circumcision is in any way an operative factor in receiving God’s grace. Now, let’s see his last point:

Proposition: Grace provides justification for sins. (3:21 – 5:21)

3. Justification by grace through faith is assured (Romans 5)
4. Assurance of personal salvation (5:1-11)

1) Justification by faith is critical to assurance (5:1-2)

2) Trial and tribulation do not nullify assurance (5:3-5)

3) Christ died for us while we were still sinners (5:6-8)

4) Our hope is even more secure now that we are His friends (5:9-11)

1. The death of Christ is all-sufficient (5:12-21)

1) The sin of one man, Adam, brought sin into our world (5:12-14)

2) Christ and His sacrifice are greater than Adam and his sin (5:15-17)

3) Christ’s sacrifice reverses completely the results of Adam’s sin (5:18-19)

4) Grace triumphs over sin and death (5:20-21)

With point 4) above, the proposition is proven.

Once again, we can clearly see that Paul is writing this to make a particular point, which is another way of saying that he is writing in context. As a further observation, he is using a persuasive structure that is called primacy – recency that recognizes that in any communicative setting, a listener or reader is most likely to remember what they heard first and what they heard last, and that of these two, they are most likely to remember what they heard last. Thus, when you are making a case with three main points, your most important point is the last one you mention, the second most important point is first mentioned, and the least important point is in the middle. Clearly this is in play here, because of all three of his supporting points, the most important is that our justification is assured. In using such a structure as this, the strength of one’s case would be reduced significantly by inserting a sidebar or detour in the middle of the most important point, which is one more reason that I do not believe for a minute that Paul intended to do so in chapter 5.

In any case, if you are new to all of this “interpretation stuff” I hope this little exercise has been helpful; if nothing else you can see how I have reached the conclusions I have written about in these posts.

Romans 5:12-21

The NIV (and other translations as well) has added a subtitle at the beginning of this section which says “Death Through Adam; Life Through Christ”. To the editors of the NIv I have two things to say to that subtitle: First, “Amen.” Second, “Why would you place a subtitle immediately before a section that begins with the word ‘therefore’?”

As I have pointed out so many times, the word “therefore” is used to draw a conclusion from the preceding passage, and that means what came just before “therefore” and what comes right after “therefore” go together; they are not separate. In defense of the NIV editors, many theologians over the centuries have read 5:1-11 and 12-21 as two different sections as well in total disregard of the rules of interpretation, rules they would apply anywhere else. Go figure?

I point this out because if we get that point, 12-21 gets much easier to follow. You see, these verses are about the supremacy of the sacrifice of Christ, not about the mechanics of sin; sin is defeated, as is death and the Devil. Here’s another way of saying the same thing: Adam screwed up; he was the first man to screw up. Later on, I screwed up too. Yikes, I have trouble with God because I screwed up. God sent His Son to sacrifice so I could get right with God. I accepted His grace through faith, and now I’m OK with God again. I am happy about that.

See? That wasn’t so bad…

Verses 1-11 tell of our assurance of salvation because of God’s amazing love and the grace that He offered to us. Verses 12-21 give us the assurance that the sacrifice of Jesus Christ is more than enough to pay the price for our sins because that all-sufficient sacrifice has utterly defeated sin, death, condemnation and Satan.

I don’t see any particular reason to read something else into this passage, do you?

Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may be by grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham’s offspring—not only to those who are of the law but also to those who have the faith of Abraham. He is the father of us all. As it is written: “I have made you a father of many nations.” He is our father in the sight of God, in whom he believed—the God who gives life to the dead and calls into being things that were not.

Romans 4:16-17

Paul continues from where we left off last time, now drawing his conclusions: God’s promises are guaranteed to all of Abraham’s descendants through faith; carrying his DNA has nothing to do with God’s promises because it’s all about our faith.

Paul continues:

Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead—since he was about a hundred years old—and that Sarah’s womb was also dead. Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised. This is why “it was credited to him as righteousness.” The words “it was credited to him” were written not for him alone, but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness—for us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.

Romans 4:18-24

When I read this, there are so many thoughts running through my mind: What amazing faith Abraham had!

Without just repeating all of the things I’ve already said in this passage, and without restating what Paul has so clearly written here, I’m just going to leave you with one thought; that’s right, just one.

It’s a big one though; maybe you should sit down before you go any further…

OK, are you ready? Here goes…

No human being is excluded from God’s grace, unless he chooses to exclude himself.

Can you think of anybody who needs to hear that today?

Is this blessedness only for the circumcised, or also for the uncircumcised? We have been saying that Abraham’s faith was credited to him as righteousness. Under what circumstances was it credited? Was it after he was circumcised, or before? It was not after, but before! And he received circumcision as a sign, a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. So then, he is the father of all who believe but have not been circumcised, in order that righteousness might be credited to them. And he is then also the father of the circumcised who not only are circumcised but who also follow in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised.

Romans 4:9-12

To make his point about the validity of Gentile redemption without first being circumcised as Jews, Paul uses an argument called a “self-evident truth.” No matter what a man’s position on circumcision might be, he will not argue with this point, for it is self-evident.

What’s that, you have a question here…? Why is it self-evident? Seriously?

It is because, as any man will tell you, in order for a grown man to be circumcised, one of two factors must be present: A, Superior force, or B, great faith. (We’re funny like that.) That Abraham submitted voluntarily is a demonstration of faith, it is not the means by which he received faith.

Therefore, since salvation is by grace through faith, and faith is required for circumcision, circumcision, by necessity, must be irrelevant to the obtaining of faith in the first place.

This logic led to a first century theological crisis that plagued the early church, for as we know there was a great deal of conflict over this point when well meaning Jewish Christians asserted that Gentiles must become Jews before they could be Christian. Please understand that these Jewish brothers weren’t just trying to be difficult, they were actually trying to help, for they had been taught that no one could inherit the blessings promised to Abraham’s seed without actually being Abraham’s seed. Their understanding was entirely physical, and the descendants of Abraham were his descendants in the flesh; they carried Abraham’s DNA.

By the way, that is why circumcision was the sign of the Abrahamic Covenant, for it marked the very physical organ that would deliver Abraham’s seed, ensuring that any offspring produced would be sons and daughters of Abraham.

The entire Old Testament system was physical in nature, and what people then and now have a hard time comprehending is that this system was only an illustration of the reality which would come through Christ. Jesus provided the fulfillment of the descendants promise made to Abraham, for it was through Jesus that all nations would be blessed and through whom those descendants would be more numerous than the stars of the heavens.

The only thing was that Jesus was not born of a human father, and that is where we transitioned from the physical illustration, to the heavenly reality− that is how the Gentiles could be saved into God’s family without Abraham’s DNA. That is also why circumcision is not necessary for a Christian male, for physical DNA is irrelevant. Instead, the thing that counts is not our human birth or lineage, but rather being born again of the Spirit.

It was not through the law that Abraham and his offspring received the promise that he would be heir of the world, but through the righteousness that comes by faith. For if those who depend on the law are heirs, faith means nothing and the promise is worthless, because the law brings wrath. And where there is no law there is no transgression.

Romans 4:13-15

Abraham did not receive God’s blessing because he followed the Law, when Abraham was alive, there was no Law, for that came centuries later. Abraham was blessed by God because he believed God, and so it is for us to this day.