Changing Masters: Romans 6:15-23
May 12, 2019 19:13:58 GMT -5
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Post by John on May 12, 2019 19:13:58 GMT -5
What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid. Know ye not, that to whom ye yield your servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness? But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you. Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness. I speak after the manner of men, because of the infirmity of your flesh: for as ye have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity; even so now yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness. For when ye were the servants of sin, ye were free from righteousness. What fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed? for the end of those things is death. But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life. For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Romans is one of the most misunderstood books in the Bible. That is especially true of the passage where Paul seems to be saying that he is going through this constant struggle with the flesh, and cannot do what he wants to do. People say that this describes the war we have to go through our entire lives, where the spirit wants to do right, but we are hopeless sinners. They claim that the best we can hope for is to find grace to enter heaven as a filthy sinner. If that were the case, how come in chapter 6 of Romans, before Paul describes that war in the flesh, he tells these people that if they are a servant of sin, they will die spiritually? How come Paul tells them that they used to be servants of the sin unto death, but now they are servants of righteousness? All the talk about sin is in the past. He says that they have been made free from sin to become servants to God. How can Paul go from saying that, to describing a man utterly defeated by sin? How can he go from describing victorious Christian living to telling everyone he can't live right? He doesn't.
What Paul is doing is describing how it was for people under the law. When they were under the law, they desired to live holy, but didn't have the power to do so. They lived under a schoolmaster, and did their best, but continually failed, and had to keep going back to the Priests to offer another animal sacrifice. That was in the past. Now, they are under a new and better covenant with new and better promises, and they have been set free from that old sin nature to serve the living God. They no longer have to live as a slave to sin. They have been set free. Paul makes it clear that those who continue to live in sin will die spiritually. He warns of this throughout his epistles. He never promises eternal life to people that live like the devil, just because they believe in Jesus. James speaks of how the devils believe in Jesus, but aren't saved. Paul is describing their life trying to be saved under the law, as compared to how they now have been set free.
If you jump down to Romans 7:24,25, it sounds like Paul is totally defeated. He just cannot live right. That is what many of today's teachers want you to believe. I was about to call them false teachers, but I am not going to do that in this case, even though what they are saying is not true, because it took me so long to understand what Paul was really saying. It is not easy to get, and it does sound like Paul is speaking of being defeated. In one of my Bibles, it even has a header that calls this passage from Romans 7:7-25 "The Christian Struggle." After I realized the truth, I took a pen and crossed out the word Christian, because that is not what Paul is saying. Still, let's take a look at Romans 7:24,25, and I will add to them Romans 8:1-6.
O wretched man that I am ! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin. There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh. That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.
In the last two verses of Romans 7, it sounds like Paul is defeated. It is a "Woe is me" type of comment. I want to live right, but I can't. The flesh is too strong for me. He says that, and then speaks of how there is no more condemnation to those who walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit. He doesn't say, there is no more condemnation to those who can't live right, which is how many interpret this, but there is no condemnation to those who walk after the Spirit. He repeats what he has been saying about how those who are carnally minded will die. So again, what are we to make of this? Paul is speaking of a contrast between life trying to follow the law as opposed to the victory he now has in Jesus Christ. He is no longer a slave to sin, but he is an overcomer. I am going to leave you with one more passage to think about from Romans. It is chapter 8:12-14, and Paul is clearly speaking to Christians.
Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh. For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.
Notice that this is conditional. If you live after the flesh, you shall die. He is saying that to Christians. If you, through the Spirit, do mortify the deeds of the body, you shall live. Again, this is to Christians. It is faith plus something.
Romans is one of the most misunderstood books in the Bible. That is especially true of the passage where Paul seems to be saying that he is going through this constant struggle with the flesh, and cannot do what he wants to do. People say that this describes the war we have to go through our entire lives, where the spirit wants to do right, but we are hopeless sinners. They claim that the best we can hope for is to find grace to enter heaven as a filthy sinner. If that were the case, how come in chapter 6 of Romans, before Paul describes that war in the flesh, he tells these people that if they are a servant of sin, they will die spiritually? How come Paul tells them that they used to be servants of the sin unto death, but now they are servants of righteousness? All the talk about sin is in the past. He says that they have been made free from sin to become servants to God. How can Paul go from saying that, to describing a man utterly defeated by sin? How can he go from describing victorious Christian living to telling everyone he can't live right? He doesn't.
What Paul is doing is describing how it was for people under the law. When they were under the law, they desired to live holy, but didn't have the power to do so. They lived under a schoolmaster, and did their best, but continually failed, and had to keep going back to the Priests to offer another animal sacrifice. That was in the past. Now, they are under a new and better covenant with new and better promises, and they have been set free from that old sin nature to serve the living God. They no longer have to live as a slave to sin. They have been set free. Paul makes it clear that those who continue to live in sin will die spiritually. He warns of this throughout his epistles. He never promises eternal life to people that live like the devil, just because they believe in Jesus. James speaks of how the devils believe in Jesus, but aren't saved. Paul is describing their life trying to be saved under the law, as compared to how they now have been set free.
If you jump down to Romans 7:24,25, it sounds like Paul is totally defeated. He just cannot live right. That is what many of today's teachers want you to believe. I was about to call them false teachers, but I am not going to do that in this case, even though what they are saying is not true, because it took me so long to understand what Paul was really saying. It is not easy to get, and it does sound like Paul is speaking of being defeated. In one of my Bibles, it even has a header that calls this passage from Romans 7:7-25 "The Christian Struggle." After I realized the truth, I took a pen and crossed out the word Christian, because that is not what Paul is saying. Still, let's take a look at Romans 7:24,25, and I will add to them Romans 8:1-6.
O wretched man that I am ! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin. There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh. That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.
In the last two verses of Romans 7, it sounds like Paul is defeated. It is a "Woe is me" type of comment. I want to live right, but I can't. The flesh is too strong for me. He says that, and then speaks of how there is no more condemnation to those who walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit. He doesn't say, there is no more condemnation to those who can't live right, which is how many interpret this, but there is no condemnation to those who walk after the Spirit. He repeats what he has been saying about how those who are carnally minded will die. So again, what are we to make of this? Paul is speaking of a contrast between life trying to follow the law as opposed to the victory he now has in Jesus Christ. He is no longer a slave to sin, but he is an overcomer. I am going to leave you with one more passage to think about from Romans. It is chapter 8:12-14, and Paul is clearly speaking to Christians.
Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh. For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.
Notice that this is conditional. If you live after the flesh, you shall die. He is saying that to Christians. If you, through the Spirit, do mortify the deeds of the body, you shall live. Again, this is to Christians. It is faith plus something.