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<h2><a onclick="return mV('Rom',6,'1-');">Rom 6</a> - Made Safe for Grace</h2>
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<p>A. The believer under grace and the problem of habitual sin.</p>
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<p class="c1">1. (<a onclick="return mV('Rom',6,1);">1</a>) Should we live a life of sin so we can receive more grace?</p>
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<p class="c2"><span>What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound?</span></p>
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<p class="c4">a. <b><span class="c3">Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound?</span></b> Paul introduced the idea that <i>where sin abounded, grace abounded much more</i> (<a onclick="return mV('Rom',5,20);">Rom 5:20</a>). He now wonders if someone might take this truth to imply that it doesn't matter if a Christian lives a life of sin, because God will always overcome greater sin with greater grace.</p>
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<p class="c5">i. After all, if God loves sinners, then why worry about sin? If God gives grace to sinners, then why not sin more and receive more grace? Some people think that their job is to sin and God's job is to forgive, so they will do their job and God will do His job!</p>
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<p class="c5">ii. In the early part of the century, the Russian monk Gregory Rasputin taught and lived the idea of salvation through repeated experiences of sin and repentance. He believed that because those who sin the most require the most forgiveness, a sinner who continues to sin with abandon enjoys more of God's grace (when he repents for the moment) than the ordinary sinner. Therefore, Rasputin lived in notorious sin, and taught that this was the way to salvation. This is an extreme example of the idea behind Paul's question "<b><span class="c3">Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound?</span></b>"</p>
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<p class="c5">iii. But in a less extreme way, the question still confronts us. Is the plan of grace "safe"? Won't people abuse grace? If God's salvation and approval are given on the basis of faith instead of works, won't we just <i>say</i> "I believe" and then live any way we please?</p>
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<p class="c5">iv. From a purely natural or secular viewpoint, <i>grace is dangerous</i>. This is why many people don't really teach or believe in grace and instead emphasize living by law. They believe that if you tell people that God saves and accepts them apart from what they deserve, then they will have no motivation to be obedient. In their opinion, you simply can't keep people on the straight and narrow without a threat from God hanging over their head. If they believe their position in Jesus is settled because of what Jesus did, then the motivation of holy living is gone.</p>
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<p class="c4">b. <b><span class="c3">Shall we continue in sin</span></b>: The verb tense of the phrase <b><span class="c3">continue in sin</span></b> (the <i>present active</i> tense) makes it clear that Paul describes the <i>practice of habitual sin</i>. In this first part of <a onclick="return mV('Rom',6,'1-');">Rom 6</a>, Paul writes about someone who remains in a lifestyle of sin, thinking that it is acceptable so <b><span class="c3">that grace may abound</span></b>.</p>
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<p class="c1">2. (<a onclick="return mV('Rom',6,2);">2</a>) A life of sin is unacceptable, because our death to sin changes our relationship to sin.</p>
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<p class="c2"><span>Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?</span></p>
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<p class="c4">a. <b><span class="c3">Certainly not!</span></b> For Paul, the idea that anyone might <i>continue in sin that grace may abound</i> is unthinkable. <b><span class="c3">Certainly not</span></b><span> is a strong phrase. It might also be translated, <i>Perish the thought!</i> Or, <i>Away with the notion!</i></span></p>
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<p class="c4">b. <b><span class="c3">How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?</span></b> Paul establishes an important principle. When we are born again, when we have believed on Jesus for our salvation, our relationship with sin is permanently changed. We have <b><span class="c3">died to sin</span></b>. Therefore, if we have <b><span class="c3">died to sin</span></b>, then we should not <b><span class="c3">live any longer in it</span></b>. It simply isn't fitting to <b><span class="c3">live any longer in</span></b> something you have <b><span class="c3">died to</span></b>.</p>
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<p class="c4">c. At this point, Paul has much to explain about what exactly he means by <b><span class="c3">died to sin</span></b>, but the general point is clear - Christians have died to sin, and they should no longer live in it. Before, we were dead <i>in</i> sin (<a onclick="return mV('Eph',2,1);">Eph 2:1</a>); now we are dead <b><span class="c3">to sin</span></b>.</p>
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<p class="c1">3. (<a onclick="return mV('Rom',6,'3-4');">3-4</a>) The illustration of the believer's death to sin: baptism.</p>
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<p class="c2"><span>Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.</span></p>
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<p class="c4">a. <b><span class="c3">Or do you not know</span></b>: The implication is that Paul is dealing with fundamental concepts that every Christians should know.</p>
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<p class="c4">b. <b><span class="c3">As many of us as were baptized in Christ Jesus</span></b>: The idea behind the ancient Greek word for <b><span class="c3">baptized</span></b> is "to immerse or overwhelm something." The Bible uses this idea of being <b><span class="c3">baptized</span></b> into something in several different ways. When a person is <b><span class="c3">baptized</span></b> in water, they are immersed or covered over with water. When they are <b><span class="c3">baptized</span></b> <i>with the Holy Spirit</i> (<a onclick="return mV('Mat',3,11);">Mat 3:11</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Act',1,5);">Act 1:5</a>) they are "immersed" or "covered over" with the Holy Spirit. When they are <b><span class="c3">baptized</span></b> with suffering (<a onclick="return mV('Mar',10,39);">Mar 10:39</a>), they are "immersed" or "covered over" with suffering. Here, Paul refers to being <b><span class="c3">baptized</span></b> - "immersed" or "covered over" in <b><span class="c3">Christ Jesus</span></b>.</p>
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<p class="c4">c. <b><span class="c3">Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father</span></b><span>: T</span>he believer's water baptism (or, being <b><span class="c3">baptized into Christ</span></b>) is a dramatization or "acting out" of the believer's "immersion" or identification with Jesus in His death and resurrection.</p>
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<p class="c5">i. "From this and other references to baptism in Paul's writings, it is plain that he did not regard baptism as an 'optional extra' in the Christian life." (Bruce)</p>
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<p class="c4">d. <b><span class="c3">We were buried with Him...<span>as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life</span></span></b><span>: Paul also builds on the idea of going under the water as a picture of being <b><span class="c3">buried</span></b></span>, and coming up from the water as a picture of rising from the dead.</p>
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<p class="c5">i. Of course, baptism also has the association of <i>cleansing</i>, but that isn't particularly relevant to Paul's point here.</p>
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<p class="c4">e. In this regard, baptism is important as an illustration of spiritual reality, but it does not make that reality come to pass. If someone has not spiritually died and risen with Jesus, all the baptisms in the world will not accomplish it for them.</p>
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<p class="c4">f. But Paul's point is clear: something dramatic and life changing happened in the life of the believer. You can't die and rise again without it changing your life. The believer has a real (although spiritual) death and resurrection with Jesus Christ.</p>
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<p class="c1">4. (<a onclick="return mV('Rom',6,'5-10');">5-10</a>) Paul considers the implications of our death and resurrection with Jesus.</p>
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<p class="c2"><span>For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be <i>in the likeness </i>of <i>His </i>resurrection, knowing this, that our old man was crucified with <i>Him, </i>that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. For he who has died has been freed from sin. Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him. For <i>the death </i>that He died, He died to sin once for all; but <i>the life </i>that He lives, He lives to God.</span></p>
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<p class="c4">a. <b><span class="c3">United together</span></b> expresses a close union. The phrase "exactly expresses the process by which a graft becomes united with the life of a tree...The union is of the closest sort, and life from Christ flows through to him." (Morris) It fits in well with Jesus' picture of abiding in Him from <a onclick="return mV('Jhn',15,'1-');">Jhn 15</a>.</p>
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<p class="c5">i. This close union is <i>both</i> in <b><span class="c3">His death</span></b> and in <b><span class="c3">His resurrection</span></b>. God has both experiences for us. Paul expressed a similar idea for his own life in <a onclick="return mV('Phl',3,'10-11');">Phl 3:10-11</a>: <i>that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead</i>. Some are all too ready to be <b><span class="c3">united together</span></b> in the glory of resurrection, but are unwilling to be <b><span class="c3">united together</span></b> in <b><span class="c3">His death</span></b>.</p>
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<p class="c4">b. <b><span class="c3">Certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection</span></b><span>:</span> Our participation in the death of Jesus makes our participation in His resurrection certain.</p>
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<p class="c5">i. It is far too easy for many Christians to focus solely on the "crucified life," failing to see that it is a part (and an essential part) of a bigger picture: preparation for resurrection life.</p>
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<p class="c4">c. <b><span class="c3">Knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him</span></b><span>:</span> The death of the <b><span class="c3">old man</span></b> is an established fact. It happened spiritually when we were identified with Jesus' death at our salvation.</p>
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<p class="c5">i. The <b><span class="c3">old man</span></b> is the self patterned after Adam, that part of us deeply ingrained with a desire to rebel against God and His commands. The system of law is unable to deal with the <b><span class="c3">old man</span></b>, because it can only tell the <b><span class="c3">old man</span></b> what the righteous standard of God is. The law tries to reform the <b><span class="c3">old man</span></b>, to get him to "turn over a new leaf." But the system of grace understands that the <b><span class="c3">old man</span></b> can never be reformed. He must be put to death, and for the believer the <b><span class="c3">old man</span></b> dies with Jesus on the cross.</p>
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<p class="c5">ii. The crucifixion of the <b><span class="c3">old man</span></b> is something that God did in us. None of us nailed the <b><span class="c3">old man</span></b> to the cross. Jesus did it, and we are told to account it as being done. "In us there was nothing even to sicken and to weaken our old man, much less to murder him by crucifixion; God had to do this." (Lenski)</p>
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<p class="c5">iii. In place of the <b><span class="c3">old man</span></b>, God gives the believer a <i>new man</i> - a self that is instinctively obedient and pleasing to God; this aspect of our person is that which was raised with Christ in His resurrection. The New Testament describes the <i>new man</i> for us.</p><ul class="c6"><li><i>The new man, which was created according to God, in righteousness and true holiness.</i> (<a onclick="return mV('Eph',4,24);">Eph 4:24</a>)</li><li><i>The new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him.</i> (<a onclick="return mV('Col',3,10);">Col 3:10</a>)</li></ul>
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<p class="c4">d. God uses our death to the <b><span class="c3">old man</span></b>, the sin nature, to liberate us from sin. A dead man can no longer have authority over us, so we are to remember and account the <b><span class="c3">old man</span></b> as <b><span class="c3">crucified with Him</span></b>.</p>
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<p class="c5">i. The two other places in the New Testament which mention the <b><span class="c3">old man</span></b> remind us to consider him done away with, telling us to <i>put off</i> the old man as something dead and gone (<a onclick="return mV('Eph',4,22);">Eph 4:22</a> and <a onclick="return mV('Col',3,9);">Col 3:9</a>). Strictly speaking, we don't <i>battle</i> the <b><span class="c3">old man</span></b>. We simply reckon him as dead.</p>
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<p class="c5">ii. "<span>Evil enters us now as an interloper and a stranger, and works sad havoc, but it does not abide in us upon the throne; it is an alien, and despised, and no more honored and delighted in. We are dead to the reigning power of sin." (Spurgeon)</span></p>
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<p class="c4">e. If the <b><span class="c3">old man</span></b> is dead, why do I feel a pull to sin inside? It comes from the <i>flesh</i>, which is distinct from the <b><span class="c3">old man</span></b>. It's hard to precisely describe the flesh; some have called it "the screen on which the inner man is displayed." Our inner being has desires and impulses and passions; these are played out in our <i>mind</i>, in our <i>will</i>, and in our <i>emotions</i>. The <i>flesh</i> is what acts out the inner man.</p>
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<p class="c5">i. The flesh is a problem in the battle against sin because it has been expertly trained in sinful habits by three sources. First, the <b><span class="c3">old man</span></b>, before he was crucified with Christ, trained and "imprinted" himself on the flesh. Second, the <i>world system</i>, in its spirit of rebellion against God, can have an continuing influence on the flesh. Finally, the <i>devil</i> seeks to tempt and influence the flesh towards sin.</p>
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<p class="c5">ii. With the <b><span class="c3">old man</span></b> dead, what do we do with the flesh? God calls us, in participation with Him, to do actively day by day with the flesh just what He has already done with the old man - crucify it, make it dead to sin. (<a onclick="return mV('Gal',5,24);">Gal 5:24</a>) But when we allow the flesh to be continually influenced by the old man's habits of the past, the world, and the devil, the flesh will exert a powerful pull towards sin. If we let the <i>new man</i> within us influence the mind, the will, and the emotions, then we will find the battle less intense.</p>
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<p class="c4">f. <b><span class="c3">That we should no longer be slaves of sin. <span>For he who has died has been freed from sin</span></span></b>: Our slavery to sin can only be broken by death. In the 1960 film <i>Spartacus</i>, Kirk Douglas played the escaped slave Spartacus, who led a brief but widespread slave rebellion in ancient Rome. At one point in the movie Spartacus says: "Death is the only freedom a slave knows. That's why he is not afraid of it." We are set free from sin because the old man has died with Jesus on the cross. Now a new man, a free man, lives.</p>
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<p class="c4">g. <b><span class="c3">Having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him</span></b><span>: Since we have already died to sin with Jesus, <b><span class="c3">death no longer has dominion over</span></b> us. The new man not only has life; he has <i>eternal</i></span> life.</p>
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<p class="c4">h. <b><span class="c3">The life that he lives, he lives to God</span></b>: The new life we are granted isn't given so we can live unto ourselves. With the new life, <b><span class="c3">he lives to God</span></b>. We aren't dead to sin, free from sin, and given eternal life to live as we please, but to live to please God.</p>
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<p class="c5"><span>i. "If God has given to you and to me an entirely new life in Christ, how can that new life spend itself after the fashion of the old life? Shall the spiritual live as the carnal? How can you that were the servants of sin, but have been made free by precious blood, go back to your old slavery?" (Spurgeon)</span></p>
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<p class="c4">i. This change in the life of the one who is born again was understood and predicted as a feature of God's New Covenant, where because of new hearts our innermost being <i>wants</i> to do God's will and be slaves to righteousness. (<a onclick="return mV('Eze',36,'26-27');">Eze 36:26-27</a>)</p>
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<p class="c5">i. The eleventh of the original 42 articles of Church of England states this truth with a beauty that only Sixteenth Century English can express: "The grace of Christ, or the holie Ghost by him geven, dothe take awaie the stonie harte, and geveth an harte of flesh." God takes away our rock-like heart and gives us a soft heart of flesh.</p>
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<p class="c1">5. (<a onclick="return mV('Rom',6,'11-12');">11-12</a>) Practical application of the principle of our death and resurrection with Jesus.</p>
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<p class="c2"><span>Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts.</span></p>
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<p class="c4">a. <b><span class="c3">Reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin</span></b>: <b><span class="c3">Reckon</span></b> is an accounting word. Paul tells us to <i>account</i> or to <b><span class="c3">reckon</span></b> the old man as forever dead. God never calls us "crucify" the old man, but instead to account him as already dead because of our identification with Jesus' death on the cross.</p>
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<p class="c4">b. <b><span class="c3">Reckon yourselves to be...alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord</span></b>: The death to sin is only one side of the equation. The old man is gone, but the new man lives on (as described in <a onclick="return mV('Rom',6,'4-5');">Rom 6:4-5</a>).</p>
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<p class="c4">c. <b><span class="c3">Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body</span></b>: This is something that can only be said to the Christian, to the one who has had the old man crucified with Christ and has been given a new man in Jesus. Only the person set free from sin can be told, "<b><span class="c3">do not let sin reign</span></b>."</p>
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<p class="c5">i. The Christian is the one truly set free. The person who isn't converted yet is free to sin, but not free to stop sinning and live righteously, because of the tyranny of the old man.</p>
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<p class="c5">ii. In Jesus, we are truly set free and are offered the opportunity to obey the natural inclination of the new man - which wants to please God and honor Him.</p>
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<p class="c4">d. <b><span class="c3">Therefore do not let sin reign</span></b>: The old man is dead, and there is new life - <i>free from sin</i> - in Jesus. Yet, many Christians never <i>experience</i> this freedom. Because of unbelief, self-reliance or ignorance, many Christians never live in the freedom Jesus paid for on the cross.</p>
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<p class="c5">i. D. L. Moody used to speak of an old black woman in the South following the Civil War. Being a former slave, she was confused about her status and asked: "Now is I free, or been I not? When I go to my old master he says I ain't free, and when I go to my own people they say I is, and I don't know whether I'm free or not. Some people told me that Abraham Lincoln signed a proclamation, but master says he didn't; he didn't have any right to."</p>
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<p class="c5">ii. This is exactly the place many Christians are. They are, and have been, legally set free from their slavery to sin, yet they are unsure of that truth. The following verses give practical help in living out the freedom Jesus has granted us.</p>
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<p class="c1">6. (<a onclick="return mV('Rom',6,'13-14');">13-14</a>) How to walk in the freedom Jesus has given us.</p>
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<p class="c2"><span>And do not present your members <i>as </i>instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members <i>as </i>instruments of righteousness to God. For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace.</span></p>
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<p class="c4">a. <b><span class="c3">Do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God</span></b>: A person can be "officially" set free, yet still imprisoned. If a person lives in prison for years, and then is set free, they often still think and act like a prisoner. The habits of freedom aren't ingrained in their life yet. Here, Paul shows how to build the habits of freedom in the Christian life.</p>
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<p class="c5">i. In the fourteenth century two brothers fought for the right to rule over a dukedom in what is now Belgium. The elder brother's name was Raynald, but he was commonly called "Crassus," a Latin nickname meaning "fat," for he was horribly obese. After a heated battle, Raynald's younger brother Edward led a successful revolt against him and assumed the title of Duke over his lands. But instead of killing Raynald, Edward devised a curious imprisonment. He had a room in the castle built around "Crassus," a room with only one door. The door was not locked, the windows were not barred, and Edward promised Raynald that he could regain his land and his title any time that he wanted to. All he would have to do is leave the room of his imprisonment. The obstacle to freedom was not in the doors or the windows, but with Raynald himself. Being grossly overweight, he could not fit through the door, even though it was of near-normal size. All Raynald needed to do was diet down to a smaller size, then walk out a free man, with all he had before his fall. However, his younger brother kept sending him an assortment of tasty foods, and Raynald's desire to be free never won out over his desire to eat. Some would accuse Duke Edward of being cruel to his older brother, but he would simply reply, "My brother is not a prisoner. He may leave when he so wills." But Raynald stayed in that room for ten years, until Edward himself was killed in battle.</p>
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<p class="c5">ii. What an accurate picture showing the experience of many Christians! Jesus has set them forever free legally, and they may walk in that freedom from sin whenever they choose. But since they keep yielding their bodily appetites to the service of sin, they live a life of defeat, discouragement and imprisonment.</p>
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<p class="c4">b. <b><span class="c3">Do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin</span></b>: This is the first key to walking in the freedom Jesus Christ has won for us is. We are told to not present the parts of our body to the service of sin. The New Living Translation communicates the idea well: <i><span>Do not let any part of your body become a tool of wickedness, to be used for sinning</span></i><span>.</span><i></i></p>
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<p class="c5">i. Your <b><span class="c3">members</span></b> are the parts of your body - your ears, lips, eyes, hands, mind, and so forth. The idea is very practical: "You have eyes. Do not put them in the service of sin. You have ears. Do not put in the in the service of sin."</p>
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<p class="c5">ii. <b><span class="c3">Instruments</span></b> could be better-translated <i>weapons</i>. The parts of our body are weapons in the battle for right living. When the parts of our body are given over to righteousness, they are <i>weapons</i> for good. When they are given over to sin, they are <i>weapons</i> for evil.</p>
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<p class="c5">iii. An example of this is how God used David's hands in the slaying of Goliath for righteousness. Later, sin used David's eyes for unrighteousness when he looked upon Bathsheba.</p>
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<p class="c4">c. <b><span class="c3">But present yourselves to God</span></b>: This is the second key to walking in the freedom Jesus has won for us is. It isn't enough to take the weapons away from the service of sin. They must then be enlisted in the service of righteousness - and, as in any warfare, the side with superior weapons usually wins.</p>
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<p class="c5">i. The idea is similar to the manner in which the priests in the Old Testament consecrated their bodies to God. Sacrificial blood was applied to the ear, to the thumb, and on the big toe, showing that those parts of their body (and all other parts) belonged to God and were to be used for His glory. (<a onclick="return mV('Exd',29,20);">Exd 29:20</a>)</p>
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<p class="c5">ii. We present ourselves to God <b><span class="c3">as being alive from the dead</span></b>. This first has the idea that all connection with the previous life - the old man - must be done away with. That life is dead and gone. Secondly, it has the idea of obligation, because we owe everything to the One who has given us new life!</p>
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<p class="c4">d. <b><span class="c3">For sin shall not have dominion over you</span></b><span>: </span>Spurgeon said that these words give us a <i>test</i>, a <i>promise</i>, and an <i>encouragement</i>.</p>
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<p class="c5">i. It is a <i>test</i> of our claim to be Christians. Does anger have dominion over you? Does murmuring and complaining? Does covetousness have dominion over you? Does pride? Does laziness have dominion over you? If sin has dominion over us, we should serious ask if we are really converted.</p>
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<p class="c5">ii. It is <i>promise</i> of victory. It doesn't say that "sin will not be present in you," because that will only be fulfilled when we are resurrected in glory. But it does promise that sin will not have <i>dominion</i> over us because of the great work Jesus did in us when we were born again.</p>
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<p class="c5">iii. It is an <i>encouragement</i> for hope and strength in the battle against sin. God hasn't condemned you under the dominion of sin - He has set you free in Jesus. This is encouragement for the Christian struggling against sin, for the new Christian, for the backslider.</p>
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<p class="c4">e. <b><span class="c3">For you are not under law but under grace</span></b>: This is the path, the means, by which we can live in this freedom. It will never happen in a legalistic, performance oriented Christian life. It will happen as we live <b><span class="c3">not under law but under grace</span></b>.</p>
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<p class="c5">i. <b><span class="c3">Law</span></b> clearly defined God's standard, and shows us where we fall short of it. But it cannot give the freedom from sin that <b><span class="c3">grace</span></b> provides. Remember that <i>grace reigns through righteousness</i> (<a onclick="return mV('Rom',5,21);">Rom 5:21</a>). Grace, not law provides the freedom and the power to live over sin.</p>
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<p class="c5">ii. This shows again that a life lived truly under grace will be a righteous life. Grace is never a license to sin. "To treat being <i>under grace</i> as an excuse for sinning is a sign that one is not really <i>under grace</i> at all." (Bruce)</p>
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<p class="c4">f. <b><span class="c3">Not under law but under grace</span></b> is another way to describe the radical change in the life of someone who is born again. For the Jewish person of Paul's day, living life <b><span class="c3">under law</span></b> was everything. The <b><span class="c3">law</span></b> was the way to God's approval and eternal life. Now, Paul shows that in light of the New Covenant, we are <b><span class="c3">not under law but under grace</span></b>. His work in our life has changed everything.</p>
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<p class="c5">i. Paul has answered his question from <a onclick="return mV('Rom',6,1);">Rom 6:1</a>. Why don't we just continue in habitual sin so that grace may abound? Because when we are saved, when our sins are forgiven and God's grace is extended to us, we are radically changed. The old man is dead, and the new man lives.</p>
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<p class="c5">ii. In light of these remarkable changes, it is utterly incompatible for a new creation in Jesus to be comfortable in habitual sin. A state of sin can only be temporary for the Christian. As Spurgeon is credited with saying: "The grace that does not change my life will not save my soul."</p>
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<p class="c5">iii. John states the same idea in another way: <i>Whoever abides in Him does not</i> (habitually) <i>sin. Whoever</i> (habitually) <i>sins has neither seen Him nor known Him...Whoever has been born of God does not</i> (habitually) <i>sin, for his seed remains in him; and he cannot</i> (habitually) <i>sin, because he has been born of God.</i> (<a onclick="return mV('1Jo',3,6);">1Jo 3:6</a> and <a onclick="return mV('1Jo',3,9);">9</a>)</p>
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<p class="c5">iv. The changes may not come all at one time, and they may not come to each area of the life at the same time, but they will be there and they will be real and they will be increasing and time goes on.</p>
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<p class="c4">g. God has made us "safe" for grace by <i>changing</i> us as we receive God's grace; He sets us free and equips us to live righteously before Him. Since we have died to sin, it is unthinkable that we could continue our former practice of sin. Once the caterpillar has been made a butterfly, the butterfly has no business crawling around on trees and leaves like a caterpillar again.</p>
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<p class="c5"><span>i. "God has so changed your nature by his grace that when you sin you shall be like a fish on dry land, you shall be out of your element, and long to get into a right state again. You cannot sin, for you love God. The sinner may drink sin down as the ox drinketh down water, but to you it shall be as the brine of the sea. You may become so foolish as to try the pleasures of the world, but they shall be no pleasures to you." (Spurgeon)</span></p>
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<p>B. The believer under grace and the problem of occasional sin.</p>
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<p class="c1">1. (<a onclick="return mV('Rom',6,15);">15</a>) A new question is asked: shall we sin (occasionally) because we are not under law but under grace?</p>
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<p class="c2"><span>What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? Certainly not!</span></p>
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<p class="c4">a. <b><span class="c3">Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace?</span></b> Paul has convinced us that a lifestyle of habitual sin is not compatible with one whose life is changed by grace. But what about an occasional sin here and there? If we are under grace, not law, must we be so concerned about a little sin here and there?</p>
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<p class="c4">b. <b><span class="c3">Shall we sin</span></b>: Again, the verb tense of the ancient Greek word <b><span class="c3">sin</span></b> is important (the <i>aorist active</i> tense). It indicates dabbling in sin, not a continual habitual sin described in the question of <a onclick="return mV('Rom',6,1);">Rom 6:1</a>.</p>
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<p class="c5">i. "The verb in verse one is in the present subjunctive, speaking of habitual, continuous action. The verb in verse fifteen is in the aorist subjunctive, referring to a single act." (Wuest)</p>
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<p class="c1">2. (<a onclick="return mV('Rom',6,'16-17');">16-17</a>) Spiritual principles we need to understand in order to answer the question.</p>
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<p class="c2"><span>Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one's slaves whom you obey, whether of sin <i>leading </i>to death, or of obedience <i>leading </i>to righteousness? But God be thanked that <i>though </i>you were slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered.</span></p>
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<p class="c4">a. <b><span class="c3">To whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one's slaves</span></b>: Whatever you present yourself to obey, you become its slave. For example, if I "obey" my appetite constantly, I am a slave to it. So we have a choice in our slavery: <b><span class="c3">sin leading to death</span></b> or <b><span class="c3">obedience leading to righteousness</span></b>.</p>
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<p class="c5">i. One way or another, we will serve somebody. The option to live our life without serving either <b><span class="c3">sin</span></b> or <b><span class="c3">obedience</span></b> isn't open to us.</p>
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<p class="c4">b. <b><span class="c3">Though you were slaves of sin</span></b>: Paul puts it in the past tense because we <i>have been</i> freed from our slavery to sin. He also says that we have been set free by <i>faith</i>, which he describes as <b><span class="c3">obedience from the heart</span></b>. The faith is put in <i>God's Word</i>, which he describes as <b><span class="c3">that form of doctrine</span></b>. All in all, the point is clear: "You put your faith in God and His Word, and now you are set free. Now live every day consistent with that freedom."</p>
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<p class="c5">i. As was seen earlier in <a onclick="return mV('Rom',6,'1-');">Rom 6</a>, we can be <i>legally</i> free and still <i>choose</i> to live like a prisoner. Paul has a simple command and encouragement for the Christian: <i>be</i> what you <i>are</i>.</p>
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<p class="c5">ii. <b><span class="c3">Obedience from the heart</span></b> is a wonderful description of faith. It shows that faith comes from the <b><span class="c3">heart</span></b>, not only the mind. It shows that faith results in <b><span class="c3">obedience</span></b> because if we really believe something we will act according to that belief.</p>
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<p class="c4">c. The phrase <b><span class="c3">that form of doctrine</span></b> is part of a beautiful picture. The word <b><span class="c3">form</span></b> describes a mold used to shape molten metal. The idea is that God wants to <i>shape</i> us - first He <i>melts</i> us by the work of the Holy Spirit and the Word of God. Then He <i>pours us</i> into His mold of truth - <b><span class="c3">that form of doctrine</span></b> and shapes us into His image.</p>
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<p class="c5">i. Adam Clarke on <b><span class="c3">that form of doctrine</span></b>: "Here Christianity is represented under the notion of a <i>mould</i>, or <i>die</i>, into which they were <i>cast</i>, and from which they took the <i>impression</i> of its excellence. The <i>figure</i> upon this <i>die</i> is the image of God, <i>righteousness and true holiness</i>, which was <i>stamped</i> on their souls in believe the Gospel and receiving the Holy Ghost. The words...refer to the <i>melting of metal</i>, which, when it is liquefied, is cast into the mould, that it may receive the impression that is <i>sunk</i> or <i>cut</i> in the mould; and therefore the words may be literally translated, <i>into which mould of doctrine ye have been cast</i>. They were <i>melted</i> down under the preaching of the word, and then were capable of receiving the stamp of its purity."</p>
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<p class="c1">3. (<a onclick="return mV('Rom',6,18);">18</a>) Why not then, occasionally sin? Because sin is not our master, and we no longer serve it.</p>
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<p class="c2"><span>And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness.</span></p>
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<p class="c4">a. <b><span class="c3">Having been set free from sin</span></b>: What does it mean to be <b><span class="c3">free from sin</span></b> and to become a slave <b><span class="c3">of righteousness</span></b>? It means that sin is no longer your boss or your master. Now <b><span class="c3">righteousness</span></b> is your boss, so serve <b><span class="c3">righteousness</span></b> instead of sin. It isn't right to think about pleasing your old boss when you change jobs.</p>
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<p class="c4">b. <b><span class="c3">Slaves of righteousness</span></b>: What does it mean to be a slave? A slave was more than an employee. Greek scholar Kenneth Wuest defines the ancient Greek word for a <b><span class="c3">slave </span></b>here by these terms:</p><ul class="c6"><li>One born into a condition of slavery</li><li>One whose will is swallowed up in the will of another</li><li>One who is bound to the master with bounds that only death can break</li><li>One who serves his master to the disregard of his own interest</li></ul>
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<p class="c4">The following <i>was</i> <i>once</i> true in regard to our slavery to sin:</p><ul class="c6"><li>We were born as slaves to sin</li><li>Our will was swallowed up and captive to the will of sin within us</li><li>Our bondage to sin was so strong that only death - spiritually dying with Jesus on the cross - could break the bondage</li><li>We were so enslaved to sin that we served it to the disregard of our own interest, even when sin destroyed us</li></ul>
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<p class="c4">Now the following <i>is true</i> in regard to our slavery to righteousness:</p><ul class="c6"><li>We are born again, now as <b><span class="c3">slaves to righteousness</span></b></li><li>Our will is now swallowed up in the will of God. It is His will that matters to us, not our own</li><li>We are bound to Jesus with bonds that only death can break; but since He has triumphed over death and given us eternal life, those bonds will <i>never</i> be broken!</li><li>We now willingly serve Jesus to the disregard of our own interests</li></ul>
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<p class="c4">c. Because we have been <b><span class="c3">set free from sin</span></b>, we never <i>have</i> to sin again. Though sin is inevitable until our flesh is resurrected in glory, it isn't because God has designed a system by which we <i>must</i> sin.</p>
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<p class="c5">i. Sinless perfection in this body is an illusion. The Apostle John made this clear in <a onclick="return mV('1Jo',1,8);">1Jo 1:8</a>: <i>If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us</i>. Yet we know that in the power of Jesus Christ, we can resist the <i>next</i> temptation - and that's all Jesus wants us to be concerned with.</p>
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<p class="c5">ii. "Because of the frailty of man, the Christian at infrequent intervals does yield to the evil nature and sin. <i>But the point is, God has so constituted him, that he need not do so.</i>" (Wuest)</p>
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<p class="c4">d. It is mockery to tell a slave, "Don't behave as a slave" - but you can say that to someone who is set free. Jesus Christ tells us to no longer behave as if we were slaves to sin. We have been set free; now we are to <i>think</i> and <i>live</i> as free people.</p>
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<p class="c1">4. (<a onclick="return mV('Rom',6,'19-23');">19-23</a>) How to keep from enslaving ourselves.</p>
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<p class="c2"><span>I speak in human <i>terms </i>because of the weakness of your flesh. For just as you presented your members <i>as </i>slaves of uncleanness, and of lawlessness <i>leading </i>to <i>more </i>lawlessness, so now present your members <i>as </i>slaves <i>of </i>righteousness for holiness. For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. What fruit did you have then in the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things <i>is </i>death. But now having been set free from sin, and having become slaves of God, you have your fruit to holiness, and the end, everlasting life. For the wages of sin <i>is </i>death, but the gift of God <i>is </i>eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.</span></p>
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<p class="c4">a. <b><span class="c3">I speak in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh</span></b>: Paul apologizes for using slavery as an illustration, because it was so degrading and pervasive, and especially because many of his Roman readers were slaves. Yet he knows that this is an illustration that works well with his readers.</p>
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<p class="c4">b. <b><span class="c3">You presented your members...so now present</span></b><span>:</span> Paul repeats a point made earlier. First, <b><span class="c3">present your members as slaves to righteousness</span></b>. This means that we don't show up for work to our old boss.</p>
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<p class="c5">i. Can you imagine? A new job, and the first day on the new job you leave work at lunch time and go to your old job and ask your old boss what he wants you to do. It just isn't right!</p>
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<p class="c4">c. <b><span class="c3">Lawlessness leading to more lawlessness</span></b><span>: Paul describes a principle ingrained in human nature. <b><span class="c3">L</span></b></span><b><span class="c3">awlessness</span></b> leads <b><span class="c3">to more lawlessness</span></b>. <b><span class="c3">Righteousness</span></b> leads to <b><span class="c3">holiness</span></b> - which is more righteousness. This describes the dynamic power of our habits and how we move along in the direction we are pointed.</p>
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<p class="c5">i. Think of four trees in a row: one at one year of growth, the second at five years, the third at ten years, and the last at 15 years. Which tree will be the most difficult to pull up out of the ground? Obviously, the longer we are <i>rooted</i> in a behavior the harder it is to uproot it - a principle that works both for good and evil.</p>
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<p class="c4">d. <b><span class="c3">For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness</span></b><span>: Paul's point is almost humorous. When we were <b><span class="c3">slaves of sin</span></b></span>, we were free all right - <b><span class="c3">free in regard to righteousness</span></b>. Some freedom!</p>
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<p class="c4">e. <b><span class="c3">What fruit did you have then</span></b><span>: To walk in victory over sin, we must think rightly about the <b><span class="c3">fruit</span></b></span> of sin. <b><span class="c3">The end of those things is death</span></b>: The end product of sin is death - not fun. But the end product of righteousness is <b><span class="c3">everlasting life</span></b>.</p>
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<p class="c5">i. In a time of temptation, these truths can seem unreal - so we must rely on our faith in these things, not on our feelings while being tempted.</p>
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<p class="c5">ii. "Consider these three things: 1. How little fruit and satisfaction your former sins have afforded you in the very time of committing them. 2. How nothing but shame and sorrow doth follow upon the remembrance of them. 3. How death, yea, eternal death and damnation (unless pardoning grace and mercy prevent it,) will be the certain conclusion of them." (Poole)</p>
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<p class="c4">f. <b><span class="c3">For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord</span></b><span>: </span>When you work for sin, your wages are <b><span class="c3">death</span></b>. When we serve God we get no pay - but He freely gives us the best benefit package imaginable.</p>
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<p class="c5">i. <b><span class="c3">Wages of sin</span></b>: "Every sinner <i>earns</i> this by long, sore, and painful service. O! What pains do men take to get to hell! Early and late they toil at sin; and would not Divine justice be in their <i>debt</i>, if it did not pay them their due wages?" (Clarke)</p>
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<p class="c4">g. Answering his question from <a onclick="return mV('Rom',6,15);">Rom 6:15</a>, Paul has made it clear: As believers, we have a change of ownership. The Christian is to fight against even occasional sin because we need to work for and under our new Master. It isn't appropriate for us to work for our old master.</p>
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