Romans Archives - Page 21 of 25

Romans 21: Three Kinds of Grace (Rom. 6:6-14)

Christ Church on June 7, 2009

Introduction
As we continue to work through this great letter of the apostle, we can see in various ways how his mind works. We see it in how he answers objections—”one of you will say to me then . . .” We also see in this passage a typical Pauline move, where he says, “These things are so, and you must act as if they are so.” This is something we must learn because it is how our sanctification progresses.

The Text
“Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. For he that is dead is freed from sin . . .” (Rom. 6:6-14)

Summary of the Text
As we improve our baptism, as we build on what Paul has just said (vv. 1-5), we do so “knowing this” (v. 6). Progress in godliness is not groping in the dark; it is the result of sound teaching. What do we know? That our “old man” was crucified in Jesus in order to destroy the “body of sin.” This was so that we would cease to be slaves of sin (v. 6). The way out of sin-slavery is to die (v. 7). But there is no way to be united with Christ in His death without also being joined to His resurrection life (v. 8). When Jesus rose, He did so in a way that freed Him from death forever; death has absolutely no claim on Him (v. 9). Moreover, He died unto sin one time, at a specific point in time, but the life He lives is continuous, and is before God (v. 10). All these things are so. How should we therefore act? We should therefore act as if they are so. “Lifewise reckon ye also yourselves . . .” Jesus died at a point in history, and He lives forever before God. You should therefore reckon yourself to be dead to sin in a decisive way, and alive to God through Jesus (v. 11). What is including in such a reckoning? Refuse to let sin reign (key word) in your mortal body, which means obedience to the lusts of that mortal body (v. 12). Present or yield the members of your body as though you were raised from the dead (because you were), and make this presentation to God (v. 13). To present such resurrected members as instruments of unrighteousness is not just morally wrong, it is schizophrenic. It is a contradiction (v. 13). Sin is not to rule over you any more because you are under grace, and not under law (v. 14).

Three Kinds of Mortification
In order to understand what Paul is teaching here, we have to sort something out first. He is describing a crucifixion, a death, a mortification. But this is not a concept that has only one application for the Christian life. First is the death of the “old man,” the old way of being human. This is equated with the overthrow of the rule and reign of sin, the dominion of sin (Rom. 6:6; Gal. 5:24; 6:14). The old man is dead—you don’t have to keep killing him. This is something that is equally true of all who are genuine Christians. The second kind of mortification occurs in the lives of Christians who have stumbled or fallen, and significant sin has grown up in their life. This is what Paul addresses in his letter to the Colossians. “Mortify your members which are on the earth” (Col. 3:5). These are not trifles, because he goes on to define them as “fornication, uncleanness, etc.” But he is talking to Christians, who should have their affections set above, and the action he calls them to is a decisive action at a point in time. The third kind of mortification is daily, for each of us. As John Owen once put it, a man should not think he makes any progress in godliness “who walks not daily over the bellies of his lusts.” We will see this just a few chapters from now—”if he though the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live” (Rom. 8:13). The verb here refers to an action that is continuous and ongoing. This mortification you will never get to walk away from on this side of glory. If you do, then you will be confronted with the duty mentioned to the Colossians.

An IllustrationPicture a weed patch, not cultivated at all. When the first mortification happens, God plows the weed patch under, and makes it a garden. It is now a garden, and not a weed patch. The old status is dead. The second mortification is what happens when that garden is untended for a week, and you come back to find weeds in it that are up to your thigh. Uproot them, pull them out. That is the second kind of mortification. The third kind is what any good gardener will tell you about. Get out there every morning, and pull up the weeds that are the size of your thumbnail. They will always be there. That is the third kind of mortification.

Reckoning Righteousness
We are not called to do good in order to impress God, or to ingratiate ourselves with Him. We are not trying to earn anything. God has already reckoned the righteousness of Jesus Christ to you, and that is your justification. What is your sanctification? It is you reckoning the righteousness of Jesus Christ to yourself. Reckon (logidzomai) yourself to be dead to sin. So what is sanctification? It is acting as though you really believe what happened in your justification. It is acting as though the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ are really yours.

Your Mortal Body
The old man is dead. Don’t worry about him. But the flesh, your mortal body, is not dead, and you should keep a wary eye on it. In v. 12, Paul cautions these Christians against letting sin “reign” in your mortal body (like back in the old days). He then equates this with obeying “it” in its lusts. What is the antecedent to “it”? As it happens, the antecedent is “mortal body,” and not “sin.” Your mortal body will make all kinds of suggestions to you all day long. Stop feeling like the lonely pervert at church—there isn’t a person here who doesn’t deal with this. At the same time, there is a difference between godliness and backsliding. Pull up the thumbnail size weeds. Stay on top of it. Don’t wait till the weed requires three shovels, two hands, and a backhoe.

Grace and Law
We have drifted so far from the biblical understanding of the words grace and law that to a certain extent we have inverted them. We think that grace means “you get to sin,” and that law “means you can’t sin.” But as Paul is describing it is here, being under law means that you can’t stop sinning, and that you therefore cannot stop accumulating the condemnation for that sin. Grace liberates you from that sin trap, from that sin slavery. Notice what Paul says here. Sin shall not have dominion. And why? Because you are under grace. Grace is the liberty of the Spirit, not the slackness of lowered standards.

Romans 20: How to Understand the Gospel (6:1-5)

Christ Church on May 17, 2009

Introduction
Thus far in Romans we have learned of our universal plight in Adam, whether or not we are Jews or Gentiles (1-3). We have also learned of the universal salvation for the human race that has been accomplished in the second Adam (4-5), the salvation that was promised for the world through father Abraham. But we now have to bring this glory down to the individual level, and this can be tricky. For example, if “all” are condemned in Adam, and “all” are justified in Christ, then no more worries, right? Just do what you feel. Wrong.

The Text
“What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein? Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection” (Rom. 6:1-5).

Summary of the Text
So Paul begins here by setting up a false conclusion to what he has presented so far. What shall our response to this glorious gospel be? Shall we continue our sinning so that God might continue His gracious forgiveness (v. 1)? And of course the answer is no. God forbid. How can people who are dead to sin still live in it (v.2)? But someone might come back at Paul—what do you mean, dead to sin? And Paul replies, “Don’t you know what baptism means?” If you were baptized into Jesus, you were baptized into His death (v. 3). Not only were you killed in baptism, you were also buried (v. 4). But the whole point of this was so that you might participate in His resurrection as well (v. 4). Note that Christ was not only raised, He was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father. In the same way (by the glory of the Father), we should walk in newness of life (v. 4). This is because if you have been planted in the likeness of His death (which is what baptism is, the likeness of His death), we also participate in the likeness of resurrection (v. 5).

Baptism In Water, Baptism in Christ
The first thing we need to work through here is whether or not Paul is referring to baptism in water. And our first instinct is to say that he could not be referring to water because, as we evangelicals all know, water baptism doesn’t do those things that are described here. Therefore we must hunt for a baptism that does do them, which would be baptism in the Spirit. This solves the problem, but perhaps it solves it a bit too easily. There is no contextual or grammatical reason to think that anything other than water baptism is meant. At the same time, there is a way of taking this as water baptism that is nothing but religious superstition. How are we to deal with this?

Faith As Catalyst
The seed of the gospel is broadcast. It falls on good soil and hard, it falls on the asphalt parking lot and on the well-tilled ground. The thing that makes it germinate is faith. When the declaration is made, we find out who it was meant for by seeing who believes it. We don’t test the declaration, sending it off to an objective lab somewhere, in order to find out whether or not it is worthy of our belief, so that we may then believe it. The gospel always brings its own credentials to those who are elect, to those who have genuine faith. So there is therefore always a perfect correspondence between those people for whom the statement is true and those who believe it to be true.

The doctrine of definite atonement is certainly true. Jesus died in order to secure the salvation of His elect, and only His elect. But Jesus also died so that we might offer salvation to every creature (Mark 16:15). These two things harmonize wonderfully, so don’t worry about it. We are preaching the gospel to a raggety-taggety world, not doing clean little syllogisms about P and Q. So don’t worry about it when your Arminian friends persist on telling people that “Jesus died for you.” If it is true, that person will believe it. If it isn’t, he won’t. (Incidentally, many Calvinistic paedobaptists make the same kind of statement at the baptismal font. We say in essence, “Jesus died for you,” without having been given a clear copy of the electing decree with little Herbert’s name on it. We walk by faith, not by sight.) But we want to be doctrinal fussers, saying that if it isn’t true and independently verified, then we shouldn’t even think about saying it. We should be reminded of Chesterton’s comment about the poet who tries to get his head into the heavens, as opposed to the rationalist, who tries to get the heavens into his head—and it is his head that splits.

Sacramental Union
The Westminster Confession rightly says that there is a sacrament union between sign and thing signified, such that it is appropriate to speak of one in terms of the other. So Saul of Tarsus was told to rise up in order to receive water baptism, washing away his sins (Acts 22:16), even though water doesn’t really do that. And Peter preached the same way, preaching a baptism for the remission of sins (Acts 2:28). Someone with genuine faith sees Christ in his baptism, and in the Lord’s Supper, in just the same way that he sees Christ on a tract made of paper and ink, or he hears Christ in a sermon preached by a poorly educated street preacher who breathes through his nose. God uses despised and weak things in order to humiliate the worldly wise. So does the grace go in when the water goes on? No, of course not, no more than a tract left in a laundromat can zap you as you walk by. This is something we understand easily in other settings. When performing a wedding, I have never said, “Please repeat . . . with this ring I thee wed,” only to have the bride stop me and say, “I didn’t know that gold rings could do that!”

Grab Them By Their Baptism
So follow the direction of Paul’s argument. The direction of this argument, rightly understood, is always into newness of life. If you have a life of sin on the one hand, and a baptism into Christ’s death on the other, which one should we follow? Which one is in charge? Paul says, “What are you doing that for? You’re baptized.” The logic is the same as a man rebuking a friend—”You can’t go honky-tonking . . . you’re married now.” And when someone sees, really sees, that this is what their baptism means, then that is what their baptism is.

The Call to Faith
We have been planted together with, united with, Jesus Christ in baptism, this likeness of His death. We therefore have a covenanted obligation to be united with Him, just as united with Him, in His life. Let God be true and every man a liar. If there is an inconsistency between baptism and the sin, then it is the sin that must die—never the baptism.

Romans 19: Humanity 2.0 (5:12-21)

Christ Church on May 10, 2009

Text

“Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned: (For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law. Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam’s transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come. But not as the offence, so also is the free gift. For if through the offence of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many. And not as it was by one that sinned, so is the gift: for the judgment was by one to condemnation, but the free gift is of many offences unto justification. For if by one man’s offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.) Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life. For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous. Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound: That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.” Romans 5:12-21

Romans 18: The Reconciliation (5:9-11)

Christ Church on May 3, 2009

Text

“Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement.” Romans 5:9-11

Romans 17: Peace With God (5:1-8)

Christ Church on April 29, 2009

Introduction

Recall that the first three chapters of Romans address the universal problem, the problem of sin. Sin afflicts the Gentiles, as we saw in chapter 1. It afflicts the Jews, as St. Paul shows in chapter 2. Sin has both Jew and Gentile in its grip—that is the argument of chapter 3. In the fourth chapter, Paul begins his discussion of the glorious solution—a solution promised repeatedly in the first book of the Bible. That solution was the establishment of a new humanity through Abraham. And now Paul comes to the paradoxial truth—the seed of Abraham, the one through whom this new way of being human will be brought about, is a new Adam. This means that this second Adam has a father, Abraham.

The Text

“Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ . . .” (Rom. 5:1-8).

Summary of the Text

We have believed in the God who quickens the dead, who raised Jesus from the dead. On this basis, we have been justified (“righteoused”) by faith (v. 1). As a result, we have (as a present possession) peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ (v. 1). In addition to this, we also have access by faith into the status of grace (v. 2). Consequently, we rejoice in hope, hope that looks forward to the glory of God (v. 2). On top of that, we glory in our tribulations now because we know that tribulations are part of a process (v. 3). Tribulation works out to patience(v. 3). Patience, the next link in the chain, leads to experience and this experience leads to hope (v. 4). This hope does not let us down, and why? Because the love of God is poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirt who has been given to us (v. 5). In our experience, when did this grace start? We had no strength to do anything, and while we were in that condition, Christ died for the ungodly (v. 6). For us it is a big thing to die for a righteous man, and sometimes some of us attain to that level (v. 7). But God’s love is quite different—Christ died for us while we were all messed up (v. 8).

What We Have Now By Faith

This passage focuses on the present and on the future both. Because we have believed (the same way that Abraham did), what do we have now? In the first place, Paul says, we have justification (v. 1). As a result, we have peace with God (v. 1). We have the privilege of standing in grace (v. 2). We also have the joy that hope brings (v. 2). We also have tribulation coupled with a right perspective on those tribulations (v. 3), which is to glory in them.

What We Look Forward to By Faith

Now the joyful hope that we currently have looks forward to the coming glory of God (v. 2). Remember from a chapter or so ago what sin causes us to fall short of? Right, the glory of God (Rom. 3:23). And Abraham, justified by faith, did what? He gave glory to God (Rom. 4:20). What was at the center of the Gentiles’ idolatry? It was that they exchanged the glory of God for the image of mere creatures (Rom. 1:23).

In between now and the glory to come, what can we look forward to? The answer is three-fold—patience, experience, and more mature hope (v. 4).

Glory Now and Glory Then

The word glory is fascinating, and helps us to understand its relationship to tribulation. Though they are different words in the Greek, notice that we glory in tribulation now as we look forward to the coming glory. What do tribulation and glory have in common? Well, they are both heavy, and Paul is very clearly using the image of training for something. This is not just training—it is weight training. We boast in the privilege of carrying the weight of tribulation now because we know that we are being prepared to carry the weight of glory later. Tribulation is a set of training weights.

A Christian approach to tribulation therefore strains toward a goal. It is not the response of one who just hunkers down to “take it.” Our trials are teleological—which means they all have a point. And this means we must interact with our tribulations with both faith and intelligence. Faith is first, and intelligence follows the argument through patience, experience, and hope.

No Real Point Without Personal Trust

But if tribulation is a set of training weights, who is the trainer? Well, of course, the answer in our text is the Holy Spirit. But as many who have had this experience can tell you, there will often come a temptation to think that your personal trainer is a maniac and a sadist. That’s what training does.

And that is why Paul turns to a discussion of the nature of the Holy Spirit’s work in our hearts. What has He shed abroad in our hearts? The answer is love, not aimless, mindless torture. Notice that God has not sent a sense of love from a distance. He has not sent love, He has brought it. The Holy Spirit is given to us, and the love He sheds abroad in our hearts came with Him.

God gives us things because He gives Himself, and brings the stuff with Him. He does not give as a substitute for giving Himself, but rather as part and parcel of giving Himself. The Holy Spirit is given unto us (v. 5). Christ was given to die for the ungodly (v. 6), that is, for us (v. 8).

A Strong Hope

When we are tempted to falter in the course of tribulations, what should we tell ourselves? We should tell ourselves the very same thing that the Spirit in this text tells us, and which the Spirit in our hearts tells us. Here is the argument, and it is very simple.

What were you like when God undertook you as His project? What condition were you in? And while you were in that condition, what did God do for you? The answer is that we were “without strength” (v. 6), and “ungodly” (v. 6). We were sinners (v. 8). Now, while we were in that condition, Christ died for us, and this was intended as a commendation of God’s love for us (v. 8). The argument looks ahead a few verses (vv. 9-10). If God did all this for His enemies, what will He do for those of us who are now His friends? Remember, we have peace with God (v. 1). We are justfied (v. 1). After what God did for His enemies, what do you think He might do for His friends?