| Romans! |
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| Chapter Six |
In our previous study, Paul showed that because of justification
we could walk with God. As there would be the tendency to rely
solely on justification as a crutch to remain in sin, Paul brought
us back to a balance by off-setting such an idea.
Therefore, with the understanding of this overriding force
against sin, how should we react? Shall we persist to sin so that
God's loving-kindness may overflow?
This is exactly the result that has taken place in our society
because of false teaching about Paul's writings. The idea has
been planted in the minds of the general religious populace that
God does it all, therefore, we don't need to do anything. This
was the concept of the previous generation. The current
generation has taken the next step, which is to abandon religion
altogether. For if God has no more respect for His standards
than to require only, "I do" - He is not a God worthy of any
respect. We have sown the wind and now are reaping the
whirlwind. Now the religionists are running around wondering
what has happened. Every action has a cause. The no law
teaching of the past is the cause for the lawlessness of the
present generation.
Ro. 6:1 What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace
may abound?
But, this was not at all what Paul was teaching. He says,
Absolutely not! How shall we who are dead to sin, live any
longer in sin?
The old man lived his life with no thought or care of what the
law said in regard to his actions. The new man must walk more
carefully with the understanding that his every action is either in
line with what the law requires or it is not, and that he is
obligated to make sure it is in line with the law.
This is not to be looked on as some great oppressing burden, but
as a burden of joy, knowing that God is not looking at us to find
a reason to swat us down. Rather, He is looking at us to find
understanding so He can help us do better the next time.
2 God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer
therein?
Do you not realize that all of us who are baptized into Joshua,
the Messiah are baptized into His death?
We were buried in baptism as a symbolism of the death of the
old man and his sinful ways. We died symbolically so that sin
would be destroyed symbolically, just as did the Messiah in
reality. We cannot have the concept that it is OK for us to
come up out of the watery grave and resume the life of a
sinner. To do so is a mockery of baptism.
3 Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ
were baptized into his death? {were: or, are}
Therefore, we are buried with Him, through baptism, into death:
that just as the Messiah was raised from the dead with the glory
of the Father, even so we also should live an entirely new life.
In other words, baptism shows the death of the old sinning man
and is symbolically similar to the death of the Messiah who took
on Himself the sins of the whole world. We, of course, are only
responsible for our own sins. Therefore, our baptism only
represents a personal symbolic similarity to His sacrifice. But
after the Messiah was brought back to life, He shared the glory
of a perfect life with the Father. Even in like manner, we should
realize that after baptism, we are not to go on acting like we did
before baptism.
It is as though we have been given an opportunity to live our
lives all over again, and this time we want to make the best of
our opportunity. We don't want to botch it up this time around.
We want to live according to the standard, as we should have
done in our previous life.
Most translators have translated, "by the glory of the Father"
as the means by which the resurrection took place. Of course,
we know that it is true that the Messiah was resurrected by the
power of the Father, but such a translation does not make sense
in the current context. The reason for this translation is
because the word "by" is a primary preposition denoting the
channel of an act; and the translators decided that the act Paul
was referring to was the resurrection. However, the rest of the
sentence shows that the act being referred to here is not the
raising from the dead, but the glorious state of a new life of
perfection. Therefore, I have translated the word "by" as
"with" which is allowable. The glory of the Messiah is the
reflection of the Glory of the Father, the channel of His
perfection. For, all glory belongs to the Father. We can recall
that in the prayer outline given by the Messiah He said, For
Yours (the Father's) Is The Glory. Therefore, as the Messiah
was raised from the dead "with" (having) the glory of the
Father, to a life of perfection, even so we also should walk in our
resurrection from the watery grave of baptism with the focus of
living our lives perfectly. As the Messiah said, Become you
therefore, perfect as your Father who is in heaven is perfect.
We can see that Paul is making very strong statements to
uphold the law and our response to it.
4 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.
Now, the following verse shows that my thoughts about the
translation above are correct. The word <for> refers back to
the previous sentence. This is like Paul is saying, "in other
words..." to explain his previous statement.
For, if we have died in the likeness of His death, we will also live
in the likeness of His resurrection.
In other words, our burial in baptism was to signify the death of
the old man of sin. His death signified the end of the need for
sin to have dominion over us. He lived a perfect life, but He
took on the sins of the whole world as though He was a man of
all those sins. Therefore, as we have similarities in our death,
we will also have similarities in our new life. The Messiah is
living a life of perfect glory. We should live a life free from the
bondage of sin.
The translations muddy the intent of what Paul is saying here.
The phrase, "we shall be" denotes the future of our lives after
baptism, not an "after our resurrection to a spiritual life"
connotation. The next verse makes this plain.
5 For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we
shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection:
We know that our old man was crucified (sustauroo) with Him,
so that the body of sin might be destroyed, cease to be, rendered
idle, unemployed, inactivated, made inoperative, so that from
this time forward we should not serve sin.
In other words, symbolically we were slain with Him on the tree
and the old man of sin ceased to be. Notice the different ways
this phrase, "might be destroyed" can be rendered. The man of
sin was to be put into unemployment. The man of sin was to
cease to have a job. He was to starve to death for lack of
income. This is a figure. In other words, from the time of our
baptism forward, we should not serve sin. Sin was to become
inactive, inoperative and cease to be in our lives.
6 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 who is dead is justified from sin.
In other words, even if you die a sinner, you have paid for your
sins. Death is the penalty for sin. The Greek word for <freed>
is most time translated as <justified>. If we die in our sins, we
have paid the penalty. The reason that the Messiah came was
so that we could live after our justification for the purpose of
practicing righteousness and ultimately live the eternal life.
Justification of our sin by our own death results in eternal
death. We could not then be raised to eternal life. But through
the Messiah, we can become justified even while we live and
therefore eternal life is possible.
Baptism pictures our death, or our symbolic justification, in the
place of our actual death. In other words, if we are willing to
symbolically die (through baptism) showing our willingness to
come under the terms of the covenant, then the Messiah covers
our sin. And when we are raised above the watery grave of
baptism we are a new man and not just an ordinary new man.
We have become a grown man without sin! And we should at
this time have a good understanding of the terms of the
covenant that we have agreed to, by the sign of baptism.
When we are baptized, we are saying by this sign that we are
tired of sin, we want the old man of sin to die. We don't want to
die the eternal death to pay for our sins. We accept the terms
of the covenant of God, which requires that we live according to
the Ten Commandments. For, if baptism pictures the death of
the old man of sin, why would we think that the new man would
just pick up where the old man left off and continue sinning? If
sin was so bad that the old man had to be put to death, certainly
this should tell us what the new man should be doing!
7 For he that is dead is freed from sin.
Therefore, If we die with the Messiah, we are persuaded that
we should also live with Him.
In other words, if our symbolic death at baptism was for the
same reason as the death of the Messiah so that sin could be
destroyed, then we should also be persuaded that our lives
should reflect His life. And His life reflects the perfection of the
Father. That is our purpose for being, to reflect the Father even
as does the Messiah.
These verses are not to be understood of a future life after we
are resurrected and have a glorious body, but they are to be
understood in context to the subject Paul is discussing which is
<justification>. After we are resurrected we won't need
justification. Justification is for the here and the now. The
problem of sin is a human one. After the resurrection, we won't
have to worry about sin.
8 Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with
him:
We know that the Messiah being once raised from the dead will
never die again; death has no more power over Him. For when
He died, He died for sin once; but in living, He lives for God.
The Messiah died for the sins of mankind the one time and will
not have to die for sin anymore. Death has no more power over
the Messiah. He died for sin one time and now He lives for God
– or according to God's standard.
Paul is setting these two verses up for the conclusion in the next
verse. He is showing the relationship of sin to the death of the
Messiah and the contrast of His life after being raised from
death. His death was for sin (not His own) and His life is one of
righteousness, living according to God's law. As we are to
follow in His footsteps, Paul then makes the conclusion of the
following verse.
9 Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death
hath no more dominion over him.
10 For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he
liveth unto God.
Likewise, consider yourselves also dead to sin, your relation to
it broken, but by contrast alive unto God through Joshua, the
Messiah our Master.
Paul is clearly saying here that we are to consider ourselves
dead to sin. If we are dead to sin, that means that so far as sin is
concerned, we are dead. We know nothing about sin! It is a
subject about which we are totally lacking in knowledge – so far
as how we live our lives. In other words, we only know about
righteousness, what our new life pictures! Keep in mind that
Paul is speaking of a given perspective here. We have to keep
it in context. The picture is that we died to sin in baptism and
we are now living our new life of righteousness before God, and
so far as living in sin is concerned, we know nothing about any
such relationship.
On the other hand, our new life is to be lived <alive unto God>
through the justification made possible through the Messiah.
The phrase <alive unto God> has much deeper meaning than a
casual reading of those words may at first bring to our
attention. We are dead so far as God is concerned because of
our sins. Sin separates us from God and as the penalty is
eternal death, we don't exist so far as God is concerned, from
the perspective of being without justification. Now, after
baptism and justification we have come alive to God! Now God
recognizes us as being alive once again. Therefore, Paul is
saying that we should live our lives as one whom God considers
as having come back to life from eternal death! This was all
made possible by the Messiah who is our Master. If He is our
Master and He has told us that we should become perfect even
as our Father in heaven, then we have our responsibility before
us.
God has done the work of justification to bring us back alive.
We must put forth our best effort to live according to the
Father's standard from the time that we have been given back
our lives.
11 Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but
alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that you should
obey it in its lusts.
Paul's conclusion at this point is that we are not to let sin reign,
control, or influence us by ruling over us. Notice the words
<mortal body>. The term <mortal body> means <liable to death
body>. This is very significant. Paul is referring to those who
have already been baptized and he says that they still have a
body that is still subject to sin and the eternal death if they
allow sin to overcome them. Therefore we are to be on our
guard not to let sin rule over us and bring us back under the
curse of eternal death. We are not to obey it, crave it, long for
it, desire it, or lust for it. We are not to desire that which is
forbidden, but we are to desire that which is according to the
standard of God as expressed in the ten commandments and
even more fully in the entirety of the Bible.
12 Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it
in the lusts thereof.
So, as we can see, Paul is in no way trying to say that we are
given salvation with no responsibility on our own part. We have
the obligation to live according to the standard of the law. After
all, as Paul has said, we had to die because of our sins and we
were brought back to life once again so we could live again in
the eyes of God. Why would we want to botch this life as we did
the life before?
Many people today lament, if I could only live my life over again
I would make some major changes. For those who have been
baptized and drawn into covenant with God, that is exactly what
has happened! We should by all means use this second life to
make the best of it as laid out in the law of God, His standard
for mankind.
And further, God has given us something we did not have in the
previous life! His holy spirit, a part of His very mind and the
power that resides in His mind to help us live this new life as it
should be lived.
Don't be fooled by the siren song of a faith without works
salvation. Not only is it a lie, but it is the height of idiocy. The
whole experience of man would be without justification if there
were nothing required of man. Man puts forth less effort in
trying to live right than he does in trying to make a living. That
is putting another god before the true God. God must come
first in our lives and if we do our part of the covenant, it will be
just that. But it must be an effort that we come to enjoy and
that we in fact become intoxicated with.
In the last part of verse 11 Paul admonished us not to allow sin
to reign in our bodies, showing that we have a part in the
salvation process. We are not to be sinners.
Paul continues:
Do not make available the members of your body (hands, feet,
mouth, mind, etc.) as tools of unlawful deeds resulting in sin.
But make yourself available to God, as those who are alive from
the dead, and make the members of your body available as tools
of the righteous law-keeping deeds of God.
This verse puts into a simple package the responsibility of those
who are in covenant with God. We are to see to it that our lives
do not reflect Satan's way, but God's way. God's way is to
keep the ten commandments; they are His standard. Notice
that we are to live our lives as though we have been given
another life after having died.
13 Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto
sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead,
and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God.
{instruments: Gr. arms, or, weapons}
The following verse has often been twisted to project a no-law
salvation. That is not at all what the verse is saying. And to
come to such a conclusion in the face of all that Paul has said,
and continues to say concerning living a life of righteousness is
sheer lunacy.
For sin shall not be your master: for you are not under the law,
but under God's loving kindness of justification.
Paul is making a statement and then expressing a contrast to
back-up his statement. We must understand the contrast in
order to understand the whole. Sin is not to become our
master. Here sin is personified as a slave-master who in the
past dominated over man. And why did this slave master
dominate man? Because, once man was drawn into sin, even as
Adam and Eve, there was no way of escape! Man could not get
out of its grasp. There was no solution. There was no means of
justification to renew man's relationship with God. Death was
required to justify man's past sins. And then it was too late for
there would have been no reason to bring man back to life.
The contrast, that Paul makes here, is between the Jews'
method of justification and our means of justification in the
Messiah! The Jews' method being only a type and not able to
renew man's relationship with God, left sin the master. Now the
reality had come, there was no need for the temple law of
sacrifices. We now have the power to overcome sin.
The Jews had a <typical> system of justification, but even as
Paul showed, the blood of bulls and goats was not sufficient.
Even after offering the sacrifice of an animal for sin, the
conscience was not set free. And they were as good as dead
even for all their offering of animal sacrifices had the Messiah
not come and offered Himself.
Heb 9:9 Which was a figure for the time then present, in which were
offered both gifts and sacrifices, that could not make him that did the
service perfect, as pertaining to the conscience;
Heb 10:4 For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats
should take away sins.
Now comes the contrast: You are not under the law, but under
"grace." The fact that in the second part of the contrast the
word "grace" (our means of justification) is used tells us what
law Paul is referring to in the first part of the contrast. The law
that was a contrast to "grace" was the works of the law, or the
temple law that had to do with the typical justification of the
Jews.
In the past, human beings were slaves weakened by sin with no
possible forgiveness. Now we can put on the whole armor of
God and boldly come before the throne of God asking for
strength to battle against sin. Seeing then we have this new
relationship with God where He is on our side and we are not
alone, we are not to allow sin to become our master. And what
made possible this new relationship? The justification of our
past sins that were coming between God and us. Under the law
of justification as known by the Jews, this was impossible.
To say that the law Paul is referring to here is the ten
commandments, would be an oxymoron (a rhetorical figure in
which incongruous or contradictory terms are <combined>).
For, there is no such thing as sin if we are not under the law or
God's standard of living. Why would Paul admonish us to not
allow sin to become our master if we were not under the law?
We have seen that the reason for justification is for breaking
the law which is God's standard; and that God is not at all kind
in this regard but angry to the point of wiping out whole worlds
as in the flood. And He required the death of His only begotten
Son for this very reason. So it is highly unlikely (read
impossible) that God would decide to do away with the law after
having His Son die so sinners could be reconciled back to the law
and given a new relationship with Him.
There were two types of justification at the time of Paul, #1)
the typical justification of the temple law, #2) the justification in
reality - the Messiah. As justification is the subject of the book
of Romans, we must come to the conclusion that Paul is
contrasting the two systems of justification. The following
would express what Paul was saying at the time of his writing of
this verse.
Sin shall not be your master: for you are not under the typical
law of justification, but under God's loving kindness, the true
justification.
14 For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the
law, but under grace.
Realizing that the Jews would have an enormous problem with
this new doctrine that Paul was teaching (that the temple
sacrifices were no longer necessary and in fact a hindrance to
salvation since the coming of the Messiah) he comes back with
the following statement.
What then? Shall we sin because we are not under the law, but
under God's loving kindness? Absolutely not!
If you had been a Jew and every time you committed sin you
took a sacrifice to the temple to atone for your sins, how would
you see Paul's statement that you did not any longer have to do
this - that you were not under this law? Your tendency would be
to let down in righteousness because the labor you were going to
before had a stimulus to keep you from sinning. Now all you had
to do was ask for God to forgive you and it seemed to be
nothing compared with all the work you had been used to doing.
Now you might think you could sin more often because the
effort to be atoned for sin was so much easier than before!
Therefore Paul addresses that by saying, "Absolutely not!"
15 What then? Shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under
grace? God forbid.
Paul appeals to the mind of the believer to show him that sin
made us servants of Satan rather than God. Rather than
focusing on the sacrifices of the past as a prohibition to sin we
should focus on whom we are having a relationship with when
we sin versus when we are righteous. We should focus on who is
our master. Paul was projecting a relationship with God that
came about from a willingness rather than tradition or fear of
being censored by one's community.
Do you not know and understand that if you make yourself
available as an obedient servant to someone, you are his servant
and he is your master. If you are sin's servant, your servitude
leads to death. If you are a servant of righteousness (keeping
the ten commandments - doing what is right in God's sight) your
servitude leads to righteousness (life).
Pr 12:28 In the way of righteousness is life; and in the pathway thereof
there is no death.
16 Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his
servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of
obedience unto righteousness?
Notice how Paul brings in the conscience in this next verse. The
contrast of doing that which is outward (temple sacrifices)
versus that which is inward (the conscience) is shown here. In
the past, one's relationship with God was a community
relationship. Now, one's relationship with God was to be a
personal relationship from the "heart." And it was to be a
relationship in which the believer was most involved and
wholehearted about.
But thank God, though you were once slaves of sin, you have
become obedient with all your heart to the standard of teaching
that you were made a part of.
Paul thanks God for the conversion of the Romans from being
servants of sin to being servants of righteousness. And this
conversion came about, not because of some temple rituals, but
because they believed on the Messiah and gave Him credit for
washing away their sins. It was a conversion of the mind, not a
community tradition type of conversion.
And notice this last statement, the standard of doctrine was
something to which they had been delivered! This was not
something to which they had just come to believe because
someone had preached it to them, but something to which God
had opened their minds so they could believe! They had been
delivered to the doctrine, rather than the other way around.
God had called them to understand His truth.
17 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.
{which...: Gr. whereto ye were delivered}
Having been set free from sin, you became the servants of
righteousness.
This statement shows us that we are now under the law of
righteousness. We are the servants of righteousness and, the
law - the ten commandments express what righteousness is! We
were set free from sin by our Justification, the Messiah. But,
notice that a vacuum was not created. If we were set free from
the master of sin, and did not have another master, we would be
living in a vacuum. That is not possible. Either we will serve
one master or another. God is to be our only master. We
cannot serve God and sin. So sin was once our master, but
righteousness is to become our master.
Notice this contrast from being the servant of sin to the servant
of righteousness. Compare your life while sin was your master
and now. Is righteousness now your master? If not, something
is wrong! You are not having a proper relationship with God if
you are serving sin.
Lu 16:13 No servant can serve two masters: for either he will hate the
one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the
other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.
18 Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of
righteousness.
Paul says, I am speaking with language that is easy to
understand because of the weakness of your carnal flesh:
therefore, as you have given yourself over as servants to
uncleanness and iniquity in the past, now give yourself over as
servants to that which is righteous and holy.
Paul begins this sentence by telling the Romans that he is saying
nothing to them in terms that are hard to be understood. His
reason for doing this is because they are weak, being easy prey
to the lusts of the flesh and its subjection to sin and he does not
want them to misunderstand what he is saying. He lets them
know that he is not speaking in terms that are with great figures
and impossible or hard to unravel. He admonishes them to be
just as zealous to live righteously and holy, as they were in the
past prone to live unclean lives with one iniquity enticing them
on to another iniquity. Iniquity unto iniquity expresses the idea
of people who were enthusiastically living in sin with one iniquity
giving rise to another iniquity until their lives were consumed
with sin.
Now, they were to become righteous and live holy in contrast to
what they had done in the past.
19 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 you were servants of sin, you were free from
righteousness.
I don't see how Paul could make doctrine any clearer. In the
past when they were the servants of sin, when sin was their
master, they certainly were not living righteously. They were
free from being holy. We cannot call someone holy who has sin
as his master. Righteousness leads to eternal life and sin leads
to eternal death. There is no escape of this contrast!
20 For when ye were the servants of sin, ye were free from
righteousness. {from...: Gr. to righteousness}
What fruit or benefit did you receive from those sins of which
you are now ashamed? For those things end in death.
Paul asks the Romans to think about what they received as a
result of living a sinful life. Obviously the fruits would be bitter
and these deeds of the past would be something they would not
want to discuss because they were much ashamed of these gross
sins. Paul tells them that the result of such deeds is death.
Death is what they would have received had they continued on
the course of their past life.
21 What fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed?
For the end of those things is death.
But, now that you have been set free from sin and become the
servants of God, you have a reward of being holy with the
knowledge that it will end in eternal life.
Paul is making a case for the Romans to be inspired to live a life
of righteousness. They have been set free from sin through the
justification made possible by the Messiah. Now they are God's
servants and they live according to His standard, which is
expressed in the Ten Commandments and their magnification
throughout the bible. The first result is that they have become
holy which gives forth good things such as peace, assurance in
doing what is right, a clear conscience that allows one to sleep at
night, a life without hang-ups, etc. And the best is yet to come
with the knowledge that because they are God's servants, doing
what he requires of them, they will in the end receive eternal
life.
22 But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye
have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life.
To contrast the above sentence, Paul comes back with a
warning and another contrast.
For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life
through Joshua, the Messiah our Master.
Paul says, But if you will not live a life of righteousness, know
and understand that the payment that will be handed out to
those who sin is eternal death. In contrast, for those who will
live righteously and according to God's standard, God has the
gift of eternal life to offer, and this is made possible through
Joshua, the Messiah by means of justification. He is our Master
and we are to follow in His footsteps. Did He sin? Therefore,
our course is set before us.
The contrast requires that we supply something here to
understand what Paul is saying. Paul has made this contrast in
several ways in the preceding verses so the contrast is to be
understood from what has been said before. Paul has shown
that the contrast is sin versus righteousness. The gift from God
of eternal life is made possible by justification from sin, and that
is made possible because of the sacrifice and life of the
Messiah. But, as sin results in eternal death it becomes obvious
that sin has to be wiped out of our life. This is done by
justification for past sins, but as Paul has shown we are not to
become a slave to sin again but live righteously. Otherwise we
will again incur the wages of sin.
23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
In this section, we see that Paul continues to talk about different
perspectives on justification. There is no way that the idea of
some weaker standard is being given in which God is
compromising with sin. God is not compromising His standard,
but rather, He is inspiring us to live up to His standard. He has
made a way of justification for past sins so that we can have the
slate of sins wiped away daily as we continue to practice living
righteously. In this way, we become strong against sin and that
is exactly the product that God is after.
Ps 23:3 He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of
righteousness for his name's sake.
Pr 15:9 The way of the wicked is an abomination unto the LORD: but
he loveth him that followeth after righteousness.
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One
Two
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we could walk with God. As there would be the tendency to rely
solely on justification as a crutch to remain in sin, Paul brought
us back to a balance by off-setting such an idea.
Therefore, with the understanding of this overriding force
against sin, how should we react? Shall we persist to sin so that
God's loving-kindness may overflow?
This is exactly the result that has taken place in our society
because of false teaching about Paul's writings. The idea has
been planted in the minds of the general religious populace that
God does it all, therefore, we don't need to do anything. This
was the concept of the previous generation. The current
generation has taken the next step, which is to abandon religion
altogether. For if God has no more respect for His standards
than to require only, "I do" - He is not a God worthy of any
respect. We have sown the wind and now are reaping the
whirlwind. Now the religionists are running around wondering
what has happened. Every action has a cause. The no law
teaching of the past is the cause for the lawlessness of the
present generation.
Ro. 6:1 What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace
may abound?
But, this was not at all what Paul was teaching. He says,
Absolutely not! How shall we who are dead to sin, live any
longer in sin?
The old man lived his life with no thought or care of what the
law said in regard to his actions. The new man must walk more
carefully with the understanding that his every action is either in
line with what the law requires or it is not, and that he is
obligated to make sure it is in line with the law.
This is not to be looked on as some great oppressing burden, but
as a burden of joy, knowing that God is not looking at us to find
a reason to swat us down. Rather, He is looking at us to find
understanding so He can help us do better the next time.
2 God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer
therein?
Do you not realize that all of us who are baptized into Joshua,
the Messiah are baptized into His death?
We were buried in baptism as a symbolism of the death of the
old man and his sinful ways. We died symbolically so that sin
would be destroyed symbolically, just as did the Messiah in
reality. We cannot have the concept that it is OK for us to
come up out of the watery grave and resume the life of a
sinner. To do so is a mockery of baptism.
3 Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ
were baptized into his death? {were: or, are}
Therefore, we are buried with Him, through baptism, into death:
that just as the Messiah was raised from the dead with the glory
of the Father, even so we also should live an entirely new life.
In other words, baptism shows the death of the old sinning man
and is symbolically similar to the death of the Messiah who took
on Himself the sins of the whole world. We, of course, are only
responsible for our own sins. Therefore, our baptism only
represents a personal symbolic similarity to His sacrifice. But
after the Messiah was brought back to life, He shared the glory
of a perfect life with the Father. Even in like manner, we should
realize that after baptism, we are not to go on acting like we did
before baptism.
It is as though we have been given an opportunity to live our
lives all over again, and this time we want to make the best of
our opportunity. We don't want to botch it up this time around.
We want to live according to the standard, as we should have
done in our previous life.
Most translators have translated, "by the glory of the Father"
as the means by which the resurrection took place. Of course,
we know that it is true that the Messiah was resurrected by the
power of the Father, but such a translation does not make sense
in the current context. The reason for this translation is
because the word "by" is a primary preposition denoting the
channel of an act; and the translators decided that the act Paul
was referring to was the resurrection. However, the rest of the
sentence shows that the act being referred to here is not the
raising from the dead, but the glorious state of a new life of
perfection. Therefore, I have translated the word "by" as
"with" which is allowable. The glory of the Messiah is the
reflection of the Glory of the Father, the channel of His
perfection. For, all glory belongs to the Father. We can recall
that in the prayer outline given by the Messiah He said, For
Yours (the Father's) Is The Glory. Therefore, as the Messiah
was raised from the dead "with" (having) the glory of the
Father, to a life of perfection, even so we also should walk in our
resurrection from the watery grave of baptism with the focus of
living our lives perfectly. As the Messiah said, Become you
therefore, perfect as your Father who is in heaven is perfect.
We can see that Paul is making very strong statements to
uphold the law and our response to it.
4 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.
Now, the following verse shows that my thoughts about the
translation above are correct. The word <for> refers back to
the previous sentence. This is like Paul is saying, "in other
words..." to explain his previous statement.
For, if we have died in the likeness of His death, we will also live
in the likeness of His resurrection.
In other words, our burial in baptism was to signify the death of
the old man of sin. His death signified the end of the need for
sin to have dominion over us. He lived a perfect life, but He
took on the sins of the whole world as though He was a man of
all those sins. Therefore, as we have similarities in our death,
we will also have similarities in our new life. The Messiah is
living a life of perfect glory. We should live a life free from the
bondage of sin.
The translations muddy the intent of what Paul is saying here.
The phrase, "we shall be" denotes the future of our lives after
baptism, not an "after our resurrection to a spiritual life"
connotation. The next verse makes this plain.
5 For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we
shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection:
We know that our old man was crucified (sustauroo) with Him,
so that the body of sin might be destroyed, cease to be, rendered
idle, unemployed, inactivated, made inoperative, so that from
this time forward we should not serve sin.
In other words, symbolically we were slain with Him on the tree
and the old man of sin ceased to be. Notice the different ways
this phrase, "might be destroyed" can be rendered. The man of
sin was to be put into unemployment. The man of sin was to
cease to have a job. He was to starve to death for lack of
income. This is a figure. In other words, from the time of our
baptism forward, we should not serve sin. Sin was to become
inactive, inoperative and cease to be in our lives.
6 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 who is dead is justified from sin.
In other words, even if you die a sinner, you have paid for your
sins. Death is the penalty for sin. The Greek word for <freed>
is most time translated as <justified>. If we die in our sins, we
have paid the penalty. The reason that the Messiah came was
so that we could live after our justification for the purpose of
practicing righteousness and ultimately live the eternal life.
Justification of our sin by our own death results in eternal
death. We could not then be raised to eternal life. But through
the Messiah, we can become justified even while we live and
therefore eternal life is possible.
Baptism pictures our death, or our symbolic justification, in the
place of our actual death. In other words, if we are willing to
symbolically die (through baptism) showing our willingness to
come under the terms of the covenant, then the Messiah covers
our sin. And when we are raised above the watery grave of
baptism we are a new man and not just an ordinary new man.
We have become a grown man without sin! And we should at
this time have a good understanding of the terms of the
covenant that we have agreed to, by the sign of baptism.
When we are baptized, we are saying by this sign that we are
tired of sin, we want the old man of sin to die. We don't want to
die the eternal death to pay for our sins. We accept the terms
of the covenant of God, which requires that we live according to
the Ten Commandments. For, if baptism pictures the death of
the old man of sin, why would we think that the new man would
just pick up where the old man left off and continue sinning? If
sin was so bad that the old man had to be put to death, certainly
this should tell us what the new man should be doing!
7 For he that is dead is freed from sin.
Therefore, If we die with the Messiah, we are persuaded that
we should also live with Him.
In other words, if our symbolic death at baptism was for the
same reason as the death of the Messiah so that sin could be
destroyed, then we should also be persuaded that our lives
should reflect His life. And His life reflects the perfection of the
Father. That is our purpose for being, to reflect the Father even
as does the Messiah.
These verses are not to be understood of a future life after we
are resurrected and have a glorious body, but they are to be
understood in context to the subject Paul is discussing which is
<justification>. After we are resurrected we won't need
justification. Justification is for the here and the now. The
problem of sin is a human one. After the resurrection, we won't
have to worry about sin.
8 Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with
him:
We know that the Messiah being once raised from the dead will
never die again; death has no more power over Him. For when
He died, He died for sin once; but in living, He lives for God.
The Messiah died for the sins of mankind the one time and will
not have to die for sin anymore. Death has no more power over
the Messiah. He died for sin one time and now He lives for God
– or according to God's standard.
Paul is setting these two verses up for the conclusion in the next
verse. He is showing the relationship of sin to the death of the
Messiah and the contrast of His life after being raised from
death. His death was for sin (not His own) and His life is one of
righteousness, living according to God's law. As we are to
follow in His footsteps, Paul then makes the conclusion of the
following verse.
9 Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death
hath no more dominion over him.
10 For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he
liveth unto God.
Likewise, consider yourselves also dead to sin, your relation to
it broken, but by contrast alive unto God through Joshua, the
Messiah our Master.
Paul is clearly saying here that we are to consider ourselves
dead to sin. If we are dead to sin, that means that so far as sin is
concerned, we are dead. We know nothing about sin! It is a
subject about which we are totally lacking in knowledge – so far
as how we live our lives. In other words, we only know about
righteousness, what our new life pictures! Keep in mind that
Paul is speaking of a given perspective here. We have to keep
it in context. The picture is that we died to sin in baptism and
we are now living our new life of righteousness before God, and
so far as living in sin is concerned, we know nothing about any
such relationship.
On the other hand, our new life is to be lived <alive unto God>
through the justification made possible through the Messiah.
The phrase <alive unto God> has much deeper meaning than a
casual reading of those words may at first bring to our
attention. We are dead so far as God is concerned because of
our sins. Sin separates us from God and as the penalty is
eternal death, we don't exist so far as God is concerned, from
the perspective of being without justification. Now, after
baptism and justification we have come alive to God! Now God
recognizes us as being alive once again. Therefore, Paul is
saying that we should live our lives as one whom God considers
as having come back to life from eternal death! This was all
made possible by the Messiah who is our Master. If He is our
Master and He has told us that we should become perfect even
as our Father in heaven, then we have our responsibility before
us.
God has done the work of justification to bring us back alive.
We must put forth our best effort to live according to the
Father's standard from the time that we have been given back
our lives.
11 Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but
alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that you should
obey it in its lusts.
Paul's conclusion at this point is that we are not to let sin reign,
control, or influence us by ruling over us. Notice the words
<mortal body>. The term <mortal body> means <liable to death
body>. This is very significant. Paul is referring to those who
have already been baptized and he says that they still have a
body that is still subject to sin and the eternal death if they
allow sin to overcome them. Therefore we are to be on our
guard not to let sin rule over us and bring us back under the
curse of eternal death. We are not to obey it, crave it, long for
it, desire it, or lust for it. We are not to desire that which is
forbidden, but we are to desire that which is according to the
standard of God as expressed in the ten commandments and
even more fully in the entirety of the Bible.
12 Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it
in the lusts thereof.
So, as we can see, Paul is in no way trying to say that we are
given salvation with no responsibility on our own part. We have
the obligation to live according to the standard of the law. After
all, as Paul has said, we had to die because of our sins and we
were brought back to life once again so we could live again in
the eyes of God. Why would we want to botch this life as we did
the life before?
Many people today lament, if I could only live my life over again
I would make some major changes. For those who have been
baptized and drawn into covenant with God, that is exactly what
has happened! We should by all means use this second life to
make the best of it as laid out in the law of God, His standard
for mankind.
And further, God has given us something we did not have in the
previous life! His holy spirit, a part of His very mind and the
power that resides in His mind to help us live this new life as it
should be lived.
Don't be fooled by the siren song of a faith without works
salvation. Not only is it a lie, but it is the height of idiocy. The
whole experience of man would be without justification if there
were nothing required of man. Man puts forth less effort in
trying to live right than he does in trying to make a living. That
is putting another god before the true God. God must come
first in our lives and if we do our part of the covenant, it will be
just that. But it must be an effort that we come to enjoy and
that we in fact become intoxicated with.
In the last part of verse 11 Paul admonished us not to allow sin
to reign in our bodies, showing that we have a part in the
salvation process. We are not to be sinners.
Paul continues:
Do not make available the members of your body (hands, feet,
mouth, mind, etc.) as tools of unlawful deeds resulting in sin.
But make yourself available to God, as those who are alive from
the dead, and make the members of your body available as tools
of the righteous law-keeping deeds of God.
This verse puts into a simple package the responsibility of those
who are in covenant with God. We are to see to it that our lives
do not reflect Satan's way, but God's way. God's way is to
keep the ten commandments; they are His standard. Notice
that we are to live our lives as though we have been given
another life after having died.
13 Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto
sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead,
and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God.
{instruments: Gr. arms, or, weapons}
The following verse has often been twisted to project a no-law
salvation. That is not at all what the verse is saying. And to
come to such a conclusion in the face of all that Paul has said,
and continues to say concerning living a life of righteousness is
sheer lunacy.
For sin shall not be your master: for you are not under the law,
but under God's loving kindness of justification.
Paul is making a statement and then expressing a contrast to
back-up his statement. We must understand the contrast in
order to understand the whole. Sin is not to become our
master. Here sin is personified as a slave-master who in the
past dominated over man. And why did this slave master
dominate man? Because, once man was drawn into sin, even as
Adam and Eve, there was no way of escape! Man could not get
out of its grasp. There was no solution. There was no means of
justification to renew man's relationship with God. Death was
required to justify man's past sins. And then it was too late for
there would have been no reason to bring man back to life.
The contrast, that Paul makes here, is between the Jews'
method of justification and our means of justification in the
Messiah! The Jews' method being only a type and not able to
renew man's relationship with God, left sin the master. Now the
reality had come, there was no need for the temple law of
sacrifices. We now have the power to overcome sin.
The Jews had a <typical> system of justification, but even as
Paul showed, the blood of bulls and goats was not sufficient.
Even after offering the sacrifice of an animal for sin, the
conscience was not set free. And they were as good as dead
even for all their offering of animal sacrifices had the Messiah
not come and offered Himself.
Heb 9:9 Which was a figure for the time then present, in which were
offered both gifts and sacrifices, that could not make him that did the
service perfect, as pertaining to the conscience;
Heb 10:4 For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats
should take away sins.
Now comes the contrast: You are not under the law, but under
"grace." The fact that in the second part of the contrast the
word "grace" (our means of justification) is used tells us what
law Paul is referring to in the first part of the contrast. The law
that was a contrast to "grace" was the works of the law, or the
temple law that had to do with the typical justification of the
Jews.
In the past, human beings were slaves weakened by sin with no
possible forgiveness. Now we can put on the whole armor of
God and boldly come before the throne of God asking for
strength to battle against sin. Seeing then we have this new
relationship with God where He is on our side and we are not
alone, we are not to allow sin to become our master. And what
made possible this new relationship? The justification of our
past sins that were coming between God and us. Under the law
of justification as known by the Jews, this was impossible.
To say that the law Paul is referring to here is the ten
commandments, would be an oxymoron (a rhetorical figure in
which incongruous or contradictory terms are <combined>).
For, there is no such thing as sin if we are not under the law or
God's standard of living. Why would Paul admonish us to not
allow sin to become our master if we were not under the law?
We have seen that the reason for justification is for breaking
the law which is God's standard; and that God is not at all kind
in this regard but angry to the point of wiping out whole worlds
as in the flood. And He required the death of His only begotten
Son for this very reason. So it is highly unlikely (read
impossible) that God would decide to do away with the law after
having His Son die so sinners could be reconciled back to the law
and given a new relationship with Him.
There were two types of justification at the time of Paul, #1)
the typical justification of the temple law, #2) the justification in
reality - the Messiah. As justification is the subject of the book
of Romans, we must come to the conclusion that Paul is
contrasting the two systems of justification. The following
would express what Paul was saying at the time of his writing of
this verse.
Sin shall not be your master: for you are not under the typical
law of justification, but under God's loving kindness, the true
justification.
14 For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the
law, but under grace.
Realizing that the Jews would have an enormous problem with
this new doctrine that Paul was teaching (that the temple
sacrifices were no longer necessary and in fact a hindrance to
salvation since the coming of the Messiah) he comes back with
the following statement.
What then? Shall we sin because we are not under the law, but
under God's loving kindness? Absolutely not!
If you had been a Jew and every time you committed sin you
took a sacrifice to the temple to atone for your sins, how would
you see Paul's statement that you did not any longer have to do
this - that you were not under this law? Your tendency would be
to let down in righteousness because the labor you were going to
before had a stimulus to keep you from sinning. Now all you had
to do was ask for God to forgive you and it seemed to be
nothing compared with all the work you had been used to doing.
Now you might think you could sin more often because the
effort to be atoned for sin was so much easier than before!
Therefore Paul addresses that by saying, "Absolutely not!"
15 What then? Shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under
grace? God forbid.
Paul appeals to the mind of the believer to show him that sin
made us servants of Satan rather than God. Rather than
focusing on the sacrifices of the past as a prohibition to sin we
should focus on whom we are having a relationship with when
we sin versus when we are righteous. We should focus on who is
our master. Paul was projecting a relationship with God that
came about from a willingness rather than tradition or fear of
being censored by one's community.
Do you not know and understand that if you make yourself
available as an obedient servant to someone, you are his servant
and he is your master. If you are sin's servant, your servitude
leads to death. If you are a servant of righteousness (keeping
the ten commandments - doing what is right in God's sight) your
servitude leads to righteousness (life).
Pr 12:28 In the way of righteousness is life; and in the pathway thereof
there is no death.
16 Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his
servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of
obedience unto righteousness?
Notice how Paul brings in the conscience in this next verse. The
contrast of doing that which is outward (temple sacrifices)
versus that which is inward (the conscience) is shown here. In
the past, one's relationship with God was a community
relationship. Now, one's relationship with God was to be a
personal relationship from the "heart." And it was to be a
relationship in which the believer was most involved and
wholehearted about.
But thank God, though you were once slaves of sin, you have
become obedient with all your heart to the standard of teaching
that you were made a part of.
Paul thanks God for the conversion of the Romans from being
servants of sin to being servants of righteousness. And this
conversion came about, not because of some temple rituals, but
because they believed on the Messiah and gave Him credit for
washing away their sins. It was a conversion of the mind, not a
community tradition type of conversion.
And notice this last statement, the standard of doctrine was
something to which they had been delivered! This was not
something to which they had just come to believe because
someone had preached it to them, but something to which God
had opened their minds so they could believe! They had been
delivered to the doctrine, rather than the other way around.
God had called them to understand His truth.
17 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.
{which...: Gr. whereto ye were delivered}
Having been set free from sin, you became the servants of
righteousness.
This statement shows us that we are now under the law of
righteousness. We are the servants of righteousness and, the
law - the ten commandments express what righteousness is! We
were set free from sin by our Justification, the Messiah. But,
notice that a vacuum was not created. If we were set free from
the master of sin, and did not have another master, we would be
living in a vacuum. That is not possible. Either we will serve
one master or another. God is to be our only master. We
cannot serve God and sin. So sin was once our master, but
righteousness is to become our master.
Notice this contrast from being the servant of sin to the servant
of righteousness. Compare your life while sin was your master
and now. Is righteousness now your master? If not, something
is wrong! You are not having a proper relationship with God if
you are serving sin.
Lu 16:13 No servant can serve two masters: for either he will hate the
one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the
other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.
18 Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of
righteousness.
Paul says, I am speaking with language that is easy to
understand because of the weakness of your carnal flesh:
therefore, as you have given yourself over as servants to
uncleanness and iniquity in the past, now give yourself over as
servants to that which is righteous and holy.
Paul begins this sentence by telling the Romans that he is saying
nothing to them in terms that are hard to be understood. His
reason for doing this is because they are weak, being easy prey
to the lusts of the flesh and its subjection to sin and he does not
want them to misunderstand what he is saying. He lets them
know that he is not speaking in terms that are with great figures
and impossible or hard to unravel. He admonishes them to be
just as zealous to live righteously and holy, as they were in the
past prone to live unclean lives with one iniquity enticing them
on to another iniquity. Iniquity unto iniquity expresses the idea
of people who were enthusiastically living in sin with one iniquity
giving rise to another iniquity until their lives were consumed
with sin.
Now, they were to become righteous and live holy in contrast to
what they had done in the past.
19 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 you were servants of sin, you were free from
righteousness.
I don't see how Paul could make doctrine any clearer. In the
past when they were the servants of sin, when sin was their
master, they certainly were not living righteously. They were
free from being holy. We cannot call someone holy who has sin
as his master. Righteousness leads to eternal life and sin leads
to eternal death. There is no escape of this contrast!
20 For when ye were the servants of sin, ye were free from
righteousness. {from...: Gr. to righteousness}
What fruit or benefit did you receive from those sins of which
you are now ashamed? For those things end in death.
Paul asks the Romans to think about what they received as a
result of living a sinful life. Obviously the fruits would be bitter
and these deeds of the past would be something they would not
want to discuss because they were much ashamed of these gross
sins. Paul tells them that the result of such deeds is death.
Death is what they would have received had they continued on
the course of their past life.
21 What fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed?
For the end of those things is death.
But, now that you have been set free from sin and become the
servants of God, you have a reward of being holy with the
knowledge that it will end in eternal life.
Paul is making a case for the Romans to be inspired to live a life
of righteousness. They have been set free from sin through the
justification made possible by the Messiah. Now they are God's
servants and they live according to His standard, which is
expressed in the Ten Commandments and their magnification
throughout the bible. The first result is that they have become
holy which gives forth good things such as peace, assurance in
doing what is right, a clear conscience that allows one to sleep at
night, a life without hang-ups, etc. And the best is yet to come
with the knowledge that because they are God's servants, doing
what he requires of them, they will in the end receive eternal
life.
22 But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye
have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life.
To contrast the above sentence, Paul comes back with a
warning and another contrast.
For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life
through Joshua, the Messiah our Master.
Paul says, But if you will not live a life of righteousness, know
and understand that the payment that will be handed out to
those who sin is eternal death. In contrast, for those who will
live righteously and according to God's standard, God has the
gift of eternal life to offer, and this is made possible through
Joshua, the Messiah by means of justification. He is our Master
and we are to follow in His footsteps. Did He sin? Therefore,
our course is set before us.
The contrast requires that we supply something here to
understand what Paul is saying. Paul has made this contrast in
several ways in the preceding verses so the contrast is to be
understood from what has been said before. Paul has shown
that the contrast is sin versus righteousness. The gift from God
of eternal life is made possible by justification from sin, and that
is made possible because of the sacrifice and life of the
Messiah. But, as sin results in eternal death it becomes obvious
that sin has to be wiped out of our life. This is done by
justification for past sins, but as Paul has shown we are not to
become a slave to sin again but live righteously. Otherwise we
will again incur the wages of sin.
23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
In this section, we see that Paul continues to talk about different
perspectives on justification. There is no way that the idea of
some weaker standard is being given in which God is
compromising with sin. God is not compromising His standard,
but rather, He is inspiring us to live up to His standard. He has
made a way of justification for past sins so that we can have the
slate of sins wiped away daily as we continue to practice living
righteously. In this way, we become strong against sin and that
is exactly the product that God is after.
Ps 23:3 He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of
righteousness for his name's sake.
Pr 15:9 The way of the wicked is an abomination unto the LORD: but
he loveth him that followeth after righteousness.
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Chapters:
One
Two
Three
Four
Four Continued
Five
Six
Seven
Seven Continued
Eight
Eight Continued