Category Archives: Romans

There are great benefits to belonging to Christ. For example, He frees us from our slavery to sin. God also promises the followers of Christ that they will share in Christ’s glory. Unfortunately, there is also a cost to following Christ. If we wish to share in Christ’s glory, we must also be willing to share in His sufferings.

In his inspired letter to the church at Rome, the Apostle Paul writes that our present sufferings cannot even be compared with the glory we will one day share. Even though this is true, it still raises a question. Why do the followers of Christ have to suffer at all? What is the purpose of the suffering we must endure before receiving the inheritance God has promised?

Paul addresses this issue in chapter 8, verses 28 through 39. He writes, “We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, to those who are called according to his purpose. For whom he foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. Whom he predestined, those he also called. Whom he called, those he also justified. Whom he justified, those he also glorified. What then shall we say about these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who didn’t spare his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how would he not also with him freely give us all things? Who could bring a charge against God’s chosen ones? It is God who justifies. Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, yes rather, who was raised from the dead, who is at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Could oppression, or anguish, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? Even as it is written, “For your sake we are killed all day long. We were accounted as sheep for the slaughter.” No, in all these things, we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Paul begins this passage by assuring us that the suffering we endure on behalf of Christ is not meaningless. God brings good out of every situation. However, there are two conditions to this promise. The first is that we must love God. God does not merely want our obedience, He wants our hearts. There are many who want the benefits of being in Christ without fully committing themselves to Him. This will not do. While it is possible to obey God without loving Him, our obedience should be an expression of our love.

The second condition for experiencing good in every situation is that we must be called according to God’s purpose. What does this mean? Doesn’t God desire everyone to give themselves to Christ? Doesn’t He send the gospel of Christ to everyone? Yes, this is true. However, there are two aspects to God’s calling: His call and our response. Though God calls, we cannot say that His calling is an accomplished fact until we accept His call. It is only those who love God and have responded to His call by giving themselves to Christ who will experience the good which God will bring out of every situation and circumstance.

What is the good which God brings in all things? Paul writes that it is, “to be conformed to the likeness of his Son,” (verse 29). Scripture tells us that in the beginning, “…God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.” (Genesis 1:27 NIV) However, our sin has distorted and marred that image. In some cases it is now almost unrecognizable. But God in His mercy and grace is in the process of re-creating the followers of Christ into His image once again. The hardship and suffering which we endure is not random or arbitrary. It is necessary in order to transform us into the image of Christ. Scripture instructs us to, “Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons. …No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.” (Hebrews 12:7, 11 NIV)

Whenever we encounter trouble or hardship we should ask ourselves, “How can this make me more like Jesus?

The realization that God’s purpose is to transform us into the image of Christ gives us a new perspective on suffering and hardship. From the world’s point of view, suffering is a sign of God’s punishment. If God was pleased with the followers of Christ, He would not allow them to suffer. Some people even think that they have the God-given right, or even duty, to persecute the followers of Christ. But this is not so. Paul writes that God has already shown His approval of Christ’s followers in the highest possible way – Christ died on their behalf. Not only that, Christ is at God’s right hand and intercedes for His followers. People may bring charges against Christ’s followers. In doing so they speak against the people whom God has chosen for His own. God has already justified them. People may condemn the followers of Christ. However, the only One who has the right to condemn, that is the ultimate Judge, has already ruled in their favor.

This brings up another point. Many people regard trouble or suffering as evidence that God has abandoned them; they are separated from Christ’s love. However, this is not the case. Paul assures us that there is absolutely no external force which can separate us from God’s love. Not even death can do so. God’s love follows those who are in Christ even beyond the grave. In the same way, no spiritual or demonic power can cut us off from God’s love. His love transcends all. As Jesus said, “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. My father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.” (John 10:27-30 NIV)

If nothing can separate us from Christ’s love then how can we lose it? Only by choosing to reject it. The question is not whether God loves us but whether we love Him. Do we trust Him to bring good to us even though we may have to suffer for wearing the name of Christ?

We usually do not like to wait. If we have a need, we want that need to be met now – not at some future date. For example, if we are hungry, we want to eat now, not next week. The longer it takes for our meal to be prepared, the more impatient we become.

On the other hand, the greater the reward or perceived benefit, the longer we are willing to wait for something, provided we do not have to endure too much inconvenience or suffering in the meantime. For example, even though we are hungry, we are willing to wait longer for a royal feast than an ordinary meal. However, if our hunger becomes too extreme while we wait for the feast, we will turn our backs on it in favor of ordinary food. In other words, we have to make a choice between future benefits and lesser enjoyment now.

This illustration has an application to our spiritual life. There is a certain amount of pleasure in sin. We can meet some of our appetites and desires by indulging in it. However, by doing so we become slaves of sin and are subject to God’s wrath. As a result, we face eternal death. In contrast, God frees all of the followers of Christ from sin’s bondage. He gives them new life and promises them an eternal inheritance. They will share in Christ’s glory.

From a human perspective, the problem with God’s promises is that they are not fulfilled immediately. We have to wait for our inheritance. And while we wait to share in Christ’s glory, we also have to share in His sufferings. The question we face is whether the suffering we must endure now is worth the inheritance we will receive later. Is it worth forsaking the pleasure of sin for future benefits? What is this inheritance that God promises to Christ’s followers, anyway?

To the Apostle Paul, the answers to these questions are very plain. In verses 18 through 27 of chapter 8 of his inspired letter to the church in Rome he writes, “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which will be revealed toward us. For the creation waits with eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to vanity, not of its own will, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of decay into the liberty of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans and travails in pain together until now. Not only so, but ourselves also, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, even we
ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for adoption, the redemption of our body. For we were saved in hope, but hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for that which he sees? But if we hope for that which we don’t see, we wait for it with patience. In the same way, the Spirit also helps our weaknesses, for we don’t know how to pray as we ought. But the Spirit himself makes intercession for us with groanings which can’t be uttered. He who searches the hearts knows what is on the Spirit’s mind, because he makes intercession for the saints according to God.”

There can be no doubt that Paul felt it was worth enduring suffering, no matter how severe, in exchange for the glory that God has promised the followers of Christ. In comparison, the suffering we may have to face in this life is trivial compared to what we will receive.

What is it that the followers of Christ can look forward to? Paul mentions two things. The first is the redemption of all creation. The world we have and the creation we see is not how God intended it. When mankind first sinned, in the Garden of Eden, it not only changed the relationship between mankind and God, creation became subject to death and decay. In addition, sin also changed the relationship between man and the creation. Before Adam’s sin, he did not have to work for his food. The earth provided whatever he needed. Afterwards God told Adam, “…Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field.” (Genesis 3:17-18 NIV)

But it will not always be like this. While writing about the future the Apostle John assures us, “No longer will there be any curse…” (Revelation 22:3 NIV) The Apostle Peter writes, “But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness.” (2 Peter 3:13 NIV) In this new heaven and earth there will no longer be any death or decay.

Another element in the hope which the followers of Christ have is the redemption of our bodies. God designed us to live forever. But death entered into the world as a result of Adam’s sin. Now we are prone to sickness. As we grow old and death approaches our bodies decay and grow weak. We no longer enjoy the abilities we had when we were young. For many, life becomes a burden because they are trapped in a failing body. However, the followers of Christ look forward to a new body – one that is not subject to weakness and decay. In another place Paul writes, “…The body that is sown in perishable, it is raised imperishable; it sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body…” (1 Corinthians 15:42-44 NIV)

The followers of Christ do not enjoy these blessings at the present time. However the fact that God has promised them gives us hope. It is this hope which enables us to endure trouble and hardship.

And God has not left us alone in our struggles. He has given us His Holy Spirit. Though we are weak, the Spirit gives us the strength we need to endure while we wait for God’s promises to be fulfilled. Not only that, the Spirit helps us communicate with God. Sometimes our struggles and troubles are so deep that we do not even know how to express them. We do not know how to bring our requests before God. We sometimes do not know if our desires and requests are in harmony with God’s will. In these circumstances, the Spirit intercedes for us and brings our prayers before our heavenly Father. Since the Holy Spirit is part of the godhead, we can be sure that all the requests He brings to the Father are according to God’s will.

Children often look like their parents. For example, a daughter looks the same as her mother did at the same age. She has the same dimple in her chin. Her smile is the same. Her nose has the same shape. Sometimes these physical resemblances hold true for several generations.

There is also another way in which family members often resemble one another. They act and behave in a certain way. They think alike. They hold the same opinions and viewpoints. Families encourage this kind of conformity. We teach and train our children to act in accordance with the family standards. Each family has its own view of what is acceptable and what is not. When a child does not conform to the family’s standards and does something contrary to what we have taught him, we say that the child has shamed or brought disgrace to the family name. Similarly, when a child acts according to his family’s value system in situations where he is being pressured to act differently, we say that he has brought honor to the family.

Sometimes we can even tell to whom someone is related by observing their actions. We know someone belongs to a certain family because he behaves just like the other members of that family do.

This holds true in spiritual things. People should be able to tell whether we are followers of Christ by the way we live. Conversely, if someone does not act the way a follower of Christ should, then it is a good indication that he is not one of them. Why is this so? In his inspired letter to the church at Rome, the Apostle Paul writes that people are slaves to sin. Because they are slaves, they are forced to do unrighteous things – even if they do not wish to do them. Upon becoming followers of Christ, however, Christ redeems them from slavery to sin. They are now free. This should have a profound effect in how they live.

In chapter 8, verses 9 though 17 Paul writes, “But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if it is so that the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if any man doesn’t have the Spirit of Christ, he is not his. If Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the spirit is alive because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of him who raised up Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised up Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you. So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh. For if you live after the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are children of God. For you didn’t receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God; and if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ; if indeed we suffer with him, that we may also be glorified with him.”

Paul writes that it is God’s Spirit living in us which makes it possible for us live righteous lives. Just as children inherit the characteristics of their parents, those in whom the Spirit of God dwells should reflect the characteristics of God. If they do not; if they continue to allow ungodly impulses and desires to control them, it is evidence that God’s Spirit does not live in them. They do not belong to Christ, even if they wear the name.

How does the Spirit come to dwell in us? As Paul already explained more fully in chapter 6, we must die. We die with Christ. We die to sin. We repudiate our old, wicked ways and thoughts. We repent. When we do this, the same Spirit which raised Christ from physical death raises us to new spiritual life. As Paul writes in another place, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” (2 Corinthians 5:17 NIV)

This change from slavery to freedom, from spiritual death to new life, also brings us into a new relationship – God adopts us as His children and includes us in His household. This change makes a profound difference. Before, we were on our own. In our own strength we did not have the power to resist sin and the lusts of our lower nature. Now, God’s Spirit gives us the strength we need to overcome sin. We can have victory over wrong.

A second profound change is that we no longer have to fear. Before, because of our sin, we were subject to God’s judgment and wrath. Now, instead of regarding God as our Judge who will condemn us, we know Him as a loving Father to whom we can come with our troubles and problems. We exchange our fear for love. As the Apostle John writes, “Love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment, because in this world we are like him. There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The man who fears is not made perfect in love.” (1 John 4:17-18 NIV)

A third profound change is in our future. God not only removes our fear, He makes us heirs with Christ. All those who follow Christ will also share in Christ’s glory. Paul writes that sharing in Christ’s suffering is a condition of sharing in His glory. This may be another way of stating that we must first die with Christ in order to gain new spiritual life. However, as Paul says in the next section of his letter, the followers of Christ can expect to suffer in this life before they receive the inheritance God has promised them. Jesus, Himself, said, “…In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33 NIV)

In light of what Paul writes, we all need to ask ourselves some questions. Does our behavior show that we are members of God’s family? Do our actions bring honor to Christ’s name? Do we allow our sinful desires to control us, or are we led by God’s Spirit? Do we fear God’s punishment, or is He our heavenly Father in whom we delight? Are we confident that we will share in Christ’s glory? If you doubt that you are in God’s household, that you are His child, then you need to ask a more fundamental question: Have you died with Christ? If not, you need to do so, so that God will give you new spiritual life through His Spirit.

From time to time there is a miscarriage of justice. An innocent person is convicted of a crime and sent to prison for something he didn’t do. We quite rightly become angry when we hear about cases like this. Such things ought not to happen. They are an affront to our concept of what is right and fitting.

There is also another kind of injustice. Sometimes a guilty person escapes punishment for what he did. This is just as wrong as punishing someone who is innocent. Before we become too upset over someone who escapes punishment, we should give some thought about our own situation. Are we not all sinners before God? Don’t we deserve punishment for breaking His standards? Hasn’t God shown us mercy? As it says in the Psalms, “The LORD is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love. He will not always accuse, nor will he harbor his anger forever; he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities.” (Psalm 103:8-10 NIV)

But this raises a question. How can God treat us with more mercy than we deserve and still be just? How can He allow our sin to go unpunished? The answer is that He cannot. If God is to remain just and righteous, then He must enforce the penalties for sin.

On the other hand, the Bible tells us that God loves us. How can He bear to see the ones He loves die? Only God could find the solution to this dilemma. He sent the sinless Jesus Christ to die in our place. When we are united to Christ’s death in baptism, the penalty of sin is paid in full and we are clothed with Christ. When God looks at us, He sees the sinless Jesus. The Apostle Paul writes, “God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished— he did it to demonstrate his justice at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.” (Romans 3:25-26 NIV)

Christ’s sacrifice does more than pay the penalty for our wrongdoing. Paul points out that we wouldn’t know what sin is except for God’s Law which defines it. The intent of the Law was to help us avoid sin. In practice, the Law condemned us because we are incapable of keeping it. Unfortunately, the Law is incapable of restoring us. In a sense, when Christ rescued us from sin, He also rescued us from the Law which condemned us.

There is another sense in which Christ rescues us from the Law. In chapter 8, verses 1 through 8 of his inspired letter to the church at Rome, Paul writes, “There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who don’t walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus made me free from the law of sin and of death. For what the law couldn’t do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God did, sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh; that the ordinance of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For the mind of the flesh is death, but the mind of the Spirit is life and peace; because the mind of the flesh is hostile towards God; for it is not subject to God’s law, neither indeed can it be. Those who are in the flesh can’t please
God.”

In chapter 7 Paul wrote that sin enslaves. It forces us to do the evil that we do not want to do and prevents us from doing the good we want to do. The Law cannot free us from this slavery. It can only condemn us to death because of it. Christ frees us from this because He gives us life. How did He do it? Christ is able to give us life because He took our place. Though He was totally sinless, He took our sinful nature upon Himself. When He sacrificed Himself on our behalf, it fulfilled the requirement of the Law.

We began this program by talking about miscarriages of justice. If the penalty the law prescribes for a crime is not paid, justice has not been served. However, once the penalty the law demands has been paid, justice has been met and the law is satisfied. The criminal is now free from the law which condemned him. If there is a fine for breaking a particular law, the court does not care whose pocket the money comes from as long as the fine is paid. If I do not have the money needed to pay my fine, a friend can give me the money. This is what Jesus did for us. We could not pay what God’s Law requires. Jesus Christ paid our fine for us. He met the requirements of the Law. By doing so, He freed us from the Law.

However, even though Jesus paid the price for our redemption, we still have a problem. As Paul explained in the previous chapter, God’s Law is spiritual but we are unspiritual. Our flesh is weak. In our natural selves we are still prone to sin even though, in our minds, we delight in God’s Law and want to live by His standards. How can we become freed from this nature which continually draws us toward sin?

The answer to this problem is the Spirit of Christ. When we become followers of Christ, He sends His Spirit to live in us. Christ’s Spirit enables us to do what we can never do on our own. The Spirit not only controls our natural passions and desires, it directs our thoughts and minds to what is spiritual.

In contrast, those who allow their flesh to control them, set their minds on fleshly things. They cannot please God because the fleshly mind is hostile to God. It not only does not want to submit to what pleases God, it cannot.

This has a practical application for us. Do we find ourselves continually doing things which do not please God? Do our natural desires, appetites and thoughts control our lives? Do we find it impossible to be spiritual? If this is the case, then we need to ask ourselves whether the Spirit of Christ really is in us. Are we followers of Christ only in name, or in fact? Have we accepted the sacrifice He made on our behalf?

Slavery has been part of the story of mankind for most of recorded history. It seems that all peoples and all cultures have, at one time or another, practiced slavery. Even today, when most countries have outlawed the practice, many thousands of people are sold into bondage each year. Many thousands of others are kept in virtual slavery through unjust labor policies or by means of debts which are almost impossible to repay.

Even though slavery still exists, most of us are probably not personally acquainted with it. Most of us are not in bondage to someone else, nor do we know someone who is. In the Roman Empire, however, slavery was extremely common. It was impossible to go about daily life without encountering it. If you were not a slave yourself, you knew people who were. Slaves not only did manual labor, slaves served in the skilled professions as tutors, doctors, scribes, shop-keepers and so on. Slaves also were involved in the arts as composers, dramatists and musicians.

Both slaves and slave owners became followers of Christ. One of the attractions of this new religion was that, in the church, everyone was equal regardless of his social, economic or legal status outside the church. Both slave and slave owner worshiped together as one. They both acknowledged that they had a common Master, that is Jesus Christ.

Something which is common to slavery regardless of the form it takes, the culture which practices it or the time period in which it takes place, is that it reduces free will. A slave does not have as many choices as a person who is not in bondage. Instead of doing what he wants, a slave must do what his master tells him.

Since everyone to whom he wrote was so familiar with slavery and the loss of freedom that slavery brings, the Apostle Paul used it as an illustration to explain how sin places us in bondage. In his inspired letter to the church at Rome, Paul already demonstrated that all of us are sinners in God’s sight because all of us have failed to live according to God’s Law. It is God’s Law which defines what sin is and shows us how terrible sin is. In chapter 7, verses 14 through 25, Paul tells us what the consequences of being a sinner are: “For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am fleshly, sold under sin. For I don’t know what I am doing. For I don’t practice what I desire to do; but what I hate, that I do. But if what I don’t desire, that I do, I consent to the law that it is good. So now it is no more I that do it, but sin which dwells in me. For I know that in me, that is, in my flesh, dwells no good thing. For desire is present with me, but I don’t find it doing that which is good. For the good which I desire, I don’t do; but the evil which I don’t desire, that I practice. But if what I don’t desire, that I do, it is no more I that do it, but sin which dwells in me. I find then the law, that, to me, while I desire to do good, evil is present. For I delight in God’s law after the inward man, but I see a different law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity under the law of sin which is in my members. What a wretched man I am! Who will deliver me out of the body of this death? I thank
God through Jesus Christ, our Lord! So then with the mind, I myself serve God’s law, but with the flesh, the sin’s law.”

Paul writes that when we sin, we deliver ourselves into the power of sin. It is as though we have been sold into slavery. One consequence of this is that we lose our freedom. Just as a slave must obey his master and do what the master says whether he wants to or not, once we are sold to sin we must obey our master. In fact, sin obligates us to do things which we hate. Sin controls us and overrides our own intentions.

Not only does sin force us to do what we hate, it also prevents us from doing what we want. Even though we acknowledge that God’s Law is good and right; even though we have the desire to live according to God’s standards, we no longer have the power in ourselves to do so. Since we are sold to sin, we must obey sin and refrain from the good we want to do. Instead of the good we want to do, sin compels us to do evil.

However, this raises a question. Paul is writing to followers of Christ. In chapter 6 of his letter he said that when we are baptized into Christ, we died to sin (Romans 6:2-3). He goes on to say, “…count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires.” (Romans 6:11-12 NIV) He also says, “For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace.” (Romans 6:14 NIV)

If this is true, then how can he say that sin compels us to do what we hate and prevents us from doing the good we desire? The answer is that though we have given ourselves to Christ, we are still trapped in our mortal bodies. Becoming a follower of Christ does not automatically do away with our appetites, desires and habits of thought. As Paul says, we are unspiritual.

In one sense, becoming a follower of Christ saves us completely. Christ has already done everything which is necessary to reconcile us to God. Our hearts and consciences are clean and right before Him. In another sense, however, we are still in the process of being saved. God is in the process of transforming us into the image of Christ. This transformation will not be complete until Christ returns. In the meantime, a war rages within us. On the one hand, we know what is right. We delight in God’s Law. We want to do good. On the other hand, our flesh is weak. Sin takes advantage of our weakness and continually draws us toward those things which lead to death. While we are in this body we will always be prone to sin even though our spirits long to please God by doing what is right.

What is the answer to this dilemma? As Paul says, who can rescue us from this body of death? It is God through Jesus Christ. By His sacrifice, Jesus has already redeemed our spirits and made us right with God. He will redeem our bodies, too. Speaking of the resurrected body Paul writes, “…The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body…” (1 Corinthians 15:42-44 NIV) Have you given yourself to Christ so that you can look forward to this promise?

Most people would probably agree that newborn babies are innocent. They have done nothing wrong or bad. In the same way, most would agree that small children are also innocent though they do things which we would never accept or tolerate from adults. Why do we consider young children innocent even though they misbehave? It is because they do not know right from wrong. They do not know what is expected of them. They do not know anything about social etiquette.

How do we teach children proper behavior? We do it through example and rewards as well as by rules, restraints, prohibitions and discipline. Example and reward teach children what to do while rules and guidelines tell them what not to do. It is only when they are capable of understanding our rules that we hold them accountable for breaking them.

However, this raises a question. Since it is our rules which define wrong behavior, and since we hold a child innocent until he knowingly breaks a rule, aren’t the rules to blame for loss of innocence? Shouldn’t we do away with rules and the punishments for breaking them so our children will retain their innocence as they grow up? If we do not call anything bad then, by definition, won’t children always be good?

In reality, we know that this is nonsense. Children who grow up without boundaries and restraints rarely become good as adults. A child who is never corrected does not learn self-restraint. Instead, he becomes selfish and cruel to others. The solution to raising children so that they become good people is not to do away with standards of behavior, but to help them ingrain the standards into their character. Then acting the right way becomes a natural reflex.

The same principles are true in spiritual things. In his inspired letter to the church at Rome, the Apostle Paul points out that we become sinners when we violate God’s standards. Since we have sinned, we must also pay the penalty of sin, that is, we must die. Some would say that the way to deal with the problem of sin is to do away with God’s Law. If the Law does not exist, then we cannot be judged by it. However, just as in the case of raising children, doing away with standards of conduct is not the solution. As Paul says, we are not holy in God’s sight even if we have never broken a written commandment. Even those who have never had the opportunity to know God’s standards have still sinned by going against their conscience.

Because God’s Law brings condemnation, there are those who question whether the Law itself is bad. How can something which is good, result in our death? Paul answers these questions in chapter 7, verses 7 through 13 of his letter. He writes, “What shall we say then? Is the law sin? May it never be! However, I wouldn’t have known sin, except through the law. For I wouldn’t have known coveting, unless the law had said, “You shall not covet.” But sin, finding occasion through the commandment, produced in me all kinds of coveting. For apart from the law, sin is dead. I was alive apart from the law once, but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died. The commandment, which was for life, this I found to be for death; for sin, finding occasion through the commandment, deceived me, and through it killed me. Therefore the law indeed is holy, and the commandment holy, and righteous, and good. Did then that which is good become death to me? May it never be! But sin, that it might be shown to be sin, by working death to me through that which is good; that through the commandment sin might become exceeding sinful.”

In this passage we see that one of the purposes of God’s Law is to define what sin is. Just as a child cannot know what unacceptable behavior is until we explain it to him, how can we possibly know what is displeasing to God unless God tells us? However, defining what sin is also carries a risk – it draws attention to it. As Paul says, without the command to not covet, we would not know what covetousness is. But once we become aware of the command, we naturally begin to think about what it means to covet and the things which we are not to covet.

The intent of the command is to help us avoid what displeases God. However, by showing us what displeases God, the command also gives opportunity to desire those very things. When we desire what is forbidden, we sin and the outcome of sin is death. In this way, the effect of the command to not covet is exactly the opposite of the intent of the command. Instead of granting us life, the command brings death.

Actually, as Paul points out, it is not the command itself, but sin working through the command which brings death. It is sin which deceives us into thinking that we can live even if we disobey God’s commands. In another place Scripture says, “…encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.” (Hebrews 3:13 NIV)

Since God’s commands result in our death, some will argue that the commands are not righteous or good. This is not so. God is holy, righteous and good. Therefore it follows that His commands will also be holy, righteous and good. It is not the commands which are at fault, but sin which has deceived us into disobeying the commands.

Parents put many good rules in place so that their children will grow up to have happy and productive lives. When a child disobeys and is punished as a result, whose fault is it? The rule which the child violated is still good even though we can say that the child received punishment as a result of it. The rule is not to blame. His parents are not to blame for punishing the child. No, the child is at fault for disobedience. In the same way, we cannot blame God’s commands for our punishment. Instead of blaming God we need to take responsibility for our own actions.

In a sense, we miss the point when we say that death comes to us through God’s commands. One of the purposes for the commands is to highlight sin. Without the commands we would not recognize how utterly evil, deceitful and devastating sin really is. God’s commands should teach us to hate sin and the death we experience because of sin.

Most people agree that the way to please God is to live a holy and blameless life. They are right. However, the problem we face is that we are not holy and blameless. All of us have violated God’s standards and become sinners. In this way, God’s Law which was supposed to direct us and show us how we ought to live, condemns us instead. As soon as we violate God’s Law, we are liable for the penalty of breaking it.

How can we free ourselves from the condemnation the Law places us in? Some would say that the answer to the Law’s condemnation is to get rid of the Law. As the Apostle Paul himself pointed out, where there is no law sin is not taken into account (Romans 5:12). Human courts do this all the time. They declare laws invalid and, thus, declare that those who have violated the law are, in fact, innocent. However, this solution is not available to us in regard to God’s Law. We humans cannot declare that what God has said is invalid. His Law remains in force regardless of what we want.

If we cannot free ourselves from the condemnation and penalty we have incurred from breaking God’s Law by overturning the Law, then what is the solution? The answer to freeing ourselves from the Law’s penalty is to pay it. We cannot be held liable if we have already paid the price the Law demands of us. Since the wages of sin (that is violating God’s standards) is death, we must die in order to free ourselves from the penalty.

In writing to the church at Rome, the Apostle Paul explains it this way. In chapter 7 of his inspired letter, verses 1 through 6, he says, “Or don’t you know, brothers (for I speak to men who
know the law), that the law has dominion over a man for as long as he lives? For the woman that has a husband is bound by law to the husband while he lives, but if the husband dies, she is discharged from the law of the husband. So then if, while the husband lives, she is joined to another man, she would be called an adulteress. But if the husband dies, she is free from the law, so that she is no adulteress, though she is joined to another man. Therefore, my brothers, you also were made dead to the law through the body of Christ, that you would be joined to another, to him who was raised from the dead, that we might bring forth fruit to God. For when we were in the flesh, the sinful passions which were through the law, worked in our members to bring forth fruit to death. But now we have been discharged from the law, having died to that in which we were held; so that we serve in newness of the spirit, and not in oldness of the letter.”

In this illustration, Paul compares each of us to a married woman. In order to fully understand the illustration, please keep in mind that Paul is writing to people living in Rome. They were under Roman law in which marriage took place between one man and one woman. If you come from a culture which allows a woman to have more than one husband, or a man to have more than one wife, the principle Paul is explaining is still valid but you will have to make allowances for your own marriage laws.

Paul points out that a woman is bound to her husband by the covenant of marriage. The marriage covenant defines what she may or may not do, both in relationship to her husband and to other men. As long as she is married to her husband, the covenant or law of marriage is in force. She is not free to marry someone else, regardless of how much she might love him or enjoy his company. Similarly, the other man is not free to marry her, or to give her a home, regardless of how much he might wish to do so.

Suppose a married woman does marry another man? In the eyes of the law the second marriage is invalid. It is not a marriage at all. Instead, it is an act of adultery. Why? Because the woman has been unfaithful to the terms of her marriage covenant with her first husband. She is not free to arbitrarily overthrow the terms of that covenant. In the same way, we are not free to ignore or overthrow God’s Law. We are bound by it.

How can a woman become free from her covenant of marriage? The covenant is in force only as long as her husband lives. If her husband dies, then the covenant is no longer in force and the woman is free from its requirements. If she wishes to marry another man, she may do so. If she does, her marriage is valid. She is not an adulterous, but a legitimate wife.

It is the same with us and the Law. The Law has rule over us only as long as we live. The Law has no power over dead men. In chapter 6 of his letter, Paul pointed out that when we are baptized into Christ, we are baptized into His death. We die with Christ so that we can also be resurrected with Him. Our old person is dead and we rise from the waters of baptism a new person.

One of the effects of dying with Christ is that we also die to the Law. Since we are dead, the Law no longer has any hold on us. We are free from it and the penalty which comes from violating it. Like the woman whose husband is dead, we are free to enter a covenant relationship with another. And, in fact, we do so when we rise with Christ at our baptism. We are now in a covenant relationship with Him.

Paul points out that married couples produce offspring. In the same way, our lives also bear fruit. But what kind of fruit? When we were under the Law we bore fruit for death. Why? Because the Law aroused sinful passions within us. However, once we died to the Law, God’s Holy Spirit came to live in us. As a result we no longer bear fruit which results in death. Now the outcome of our lives pleases God and is for His glory.

The question each of us has to face is whether we are free from the Law or whether we are still bound to it. Have we died with Christ so that we are no longer under the rule of the Law? Does God’s Spirit live in us?

Scripture tells us that God is good. Yet, we need only look around us to see that evil is everywhere. If God is good, then why is there so much evil? Not only is evil very prevalent, it often seems like it is increasing and getting worse in character. Why does a good, all-powerful God permit it?

The answer to this question is that God has given mankind freedom of choice. Each one of us has the ability to turn away from the path God wants us to travel and go our own way. We have the ability to choose wrong. In his inspired letter to the church at Rome, the Apostle Paul writes that everyone not only has the choice to do wrong, all of us have made that choice. All of us, whether God gave us His Law or whether we live only by our conscience, have chosen to do what we know is wrong. All of us are sinners before God.

The problem is that once we have violated God’s standards and become sinners, we can never become righteous again through our own efforts. All the good deeds and righteous acts we do are only what we ought to do anyway. We can never be more righteous than God requires in order to make up for our unrighteousness and sin. No matter how much good we do, God still counts us as sinners.

In history there have been cases where a person voluntarily agrees to become a slave. By becoming a slave, he gives up his freedom. Now he must do the bidding of his master. Further, he cannot change his status. Once a slave, he remains bound to his master. We do the same thing when we choose to sin. We sin voluntarily – no one forces it on us. Once we have sinned, however, there is nothing we can do to change our status as sinners. Sin has become our owner.

It is possible for someone to buy a slave from his owner. If he is willing to pay the necessary price, he acquires the deed of ownership from the former owner. This is similar to what God did for us. Since we ourselves are incapable of making up the difference between our actions and what God desires, God in His mercy, paid our debt Himself. Through the sacrifice of the sinless Jesus, He paid the price for our sin.

A slave has no choice when a new master buys him. However God does give us a choice. He has already paid the price to free us from our old master, that is from sin. But He allows us the freedom to choose whether we will accept a change in ownership. If we accept the price, we are no longer slaves of sin. Instead we become a slave of righteousness.

This change in ownership has profound implications. Paul explains them in chapter 6 of his letter, verses 17 through 23. “But thanks be to God, that, whereas you were bondservants of sin, you became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching whereunto you were delivered. Being made free from sin, you became bondservants of righteousness. I speak in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh, for as you presented your members as servants to uncleanness and to wickedness upon wickedness, even so now present your members as servants to righteousness for sanctification. For when you were servants of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. What fruit then did you have at that time in the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. But now, being made free from sin, and having become servants of God, you have your fruit of sanctification, and the result of eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Some people might be offended that Paul compares the followers of Christ to slaves. Paul writes that the reason he uses the illustration of slavery is because of human weakness. It is possible that what he means is that some concepts are hard for us humans to comprehend. At the time Paul wrote, slavery was common. Everyone knew about slavery so, by using it as an illustration, it made the lesson Paul was trying to teach easy to understand. It is also possible he means we are weak in the sense that we are attracted to sin even though God has released us from its slavery.

In any case, the lesson Paul is trying to teach is that just as a slave who has been bought no longer serves his old master, the person who follows Christ, should no longer be under the control of sin. His allegiance has changed. He should think about how to please his new master rather than the old one. Since we have been freed from sin, we should no longer act as if it still had authority over us. Instead, we should offer ourselves to our new master, that is, righteousness.

What Paul is saying is that we cannot serve two masters. This is also what Jesus taught. He said, “No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.” (Matthew 6:24 NIV) Paul’s meaning is clear. We cannot follow Christ yet act as though we still belong to sin.

To make his point even clearer, Paul contrasts the effects of serving the two masters. If we serve sin, the result is impurity, wickedness and shame. If we serve righteousness, the result is holiness. Which would we rather be? Do we want to be impure and ashamed, or do we want to be holy? If we want holiness then we must serve righteousness.

Paul also contrasts the fruit or wages we receive from serving the two masters. Sin is like a cruel master who beats his slaves to death. If sin is our master, we have no hope. In contrast, those whom God has freed from sin can look forward to eternal life. God, through Christ, has rescued us from certain destruction and gives us life. Who is your master? Have you accepted the price Christ paid to free you from sin? Do you have holiness and eternal life, or are you still the slave of sin?

Many people have a negative view of religion, and Christianity in particular, because they think of it in terms of prohibitions. In their minds, religions consist of a list of rules which prevent them from doing what they want to do.

It is true that the followers of Christ will refrain from doing many things. However, those who think that religion consists of rules miss something very important. The followers of Christ refrain from certain things, not because of rules but because they have a changed nature. In his inspired letter to the church at Rome the Apostle Paul points out that when someone becomes a follower of Christ, he dies to sin. In the waters of baptism he joins Christ in His death. One of the results of dying to sin and dying with Christ is receiving new life – a life which naturally avoids doing the things which are not pleasing to God. In chapter 6, verses 8 through 17 of his letter Paul writes, “But if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him; knowing that Christ, being raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no more has dominion over him! For the death that he died, he died to sin one time; but the life that he lives, he lives to God. Thus consider yourselves also to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Therefore don’t let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts. Neither present your members to sin as instruments of unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God, as alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. For sin will not have dominion over you. For you are not under law, but under grace. What then? Shall we sin, because we are not under law, but under grace? May it never be! Don’t you know that to whom you present yourselves as servants to obedience, his servants you are whom you obey; whether of sin to death, or of obedience to righteousness? But thanks be to God, that, whereas you were bondservants of sin, you became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching whereunto you were delivered.”

In this passage Paul uses three word-pictures to explain why the followers of Christ are free from sin and why they should refrain from practicing sin. The first illustration he uses is that of death and resurrection. He points out that just as the death of Christ and His resurrection are inseparable, so too, are dying with Christ and living a new life. Since Christ rose from the dead, death no longer has any hold or mastery over Him. He cannot die again. In the same way, sin no longer has any hold on the person who has died to it. In Christ he is a new person. Just as living people do not associate with the dead, someone whom Christ has made spiritually alive no longer practices the things which brought him spiritual death. Instead, from now on he is free to live as God wants him to.

The second metaphor Paul uses is that of a king or ruler. A king’s subjects must obey the king’s orders. However, the king’s edicts do not apply to someone who is not part of his kingdom. Paul explains that sin reigns in the lives of those who have not died to it. Sin forces those who live in its domination to obey its evil desires. Their bodies become instruments of wickedness.

In contrast to this, those who have joined themselves to Christ no longer live under the domination of sin. They belong to a different kingdom where sin’s reign no longer applies. In another place Paul writes, “For he (that is God) has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.” (Colossians 1:13-14 NIV) Paul points out that just as the subjects of one kingdom are not obligated to obey some other king, people who do not live under the reign of sin should not subject themselves to its rules. Instead, they should offer their allegiance and obedience to their own king – that is God.

What are the operative principles of the two kingdoms? Law defines the kingdom of sin. As Paul already said in chapter 5, verse 13, “for before the law was given, sin was in the world. But sin is not taken into account when there is no law.” (NIV) In other words, without the law we would not know what sin is and no one could be held accountable for breaking the law. However, as Paul also pointed out, since the law was given no one except Christ has been able to keep it. All of us have been declared sinners before God. The law is a continual reminder of our shortcomings.

In contrast, the kingdom of Christ operates on the principle of grace. Not only does grace make up for our inability to meet God’s standards of righteousness, it gives us the power to turn away from wickedness.

Christ takes us out from under the authority of law. As a result, sin can no longer rule over us. Instead, grace empowers us to live righteous and holy lives.

Some might think that living under grace instead of law gives us a license to sin. Since grace covers our shortcomings, what difference does it make what we do? Paul’s answer is that the two kingdoms are incompatible. We cannot enjoy the benefits of the kingdom of Christ while living by the rules of the kingdom of darkness. If we obey someone, we are the slaves of the one whom we obey. If we choose sin over grace, then sin will be our master.

This leads to the third word-picture Paul uses to describe sin. It is that of a slave owner. Sin is like a cruel master who works his slaves to death. We do not have a choice about whether we will serve, but we do have a choice about whom we will serve. We can choose between obedience to sin, which leads to death, and obedience to the teaching which leads to righteousness.

The real question is what our choice is. Have we chosen to die to sin? Have we chosen to participate in Christ’s death so that we have new life? Have we chosen grace over law? Are we slaves to sin or to righteousness?

We have a tendency to think that if something is good, more is better. However, this often is not true. For example, if taking medicine cures you of an illness it does not mean that a larger dose will be even more beneficial. On the contrary, a larger dose might kill you. Likewise, we need to eat a certain amount of food in order to live. It does not follow that more food is always beneficial. If we eat too much it can lead to all sorts of health problems.

Even worse than taking something which is good beyond what is appropriate, is continuing wrong or destructive behavior because some good came out of it. For example, a man may have learned some wisdom from having failed in business. Should he then continue making the poor decisions which led to his failure? Should he pursue more failure in the hope that it will make him wiser still? Of course not. We should not deliberately seek failure, rather we should learn from our mistakes and failures so that we can avoid them in the future.

The same principle is true in spiritual things. All of us are sinners. We have all violated God’s standards. As a result, we have been separated from God. However, our sin also enables us to experience God’s grace, justification and reconciliation through Jesus Christ. These are all wonderful things.

In his inspired letter to the church at Rome, the Apostle Paul writes that God’s grace increases all the more the greater our sin becomes. As we become more and more aware of God’s requirements, we become more guilty for not keeping them. As we become more guilty, God’s grace becomes more apparent. What, then, should our response be? In chapter 5, verses 20 through chapter 6, verse 7 he writes, “The law came in besides, that the trespass might abound; but where sin abounded, grace abounded more exceedingly; that as sin reigned in death, even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? May it never be! We who died to sin, how could we live in it any longer? Or don’t you know that all we who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him through baptism to death, that just like Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we also might walk in newness of life. For if we have become united with him in the likeness of his death, we will also be part of his resurrection; knowing this, that our old man was crucified with him, that the body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be in bondage to sin. For he who has died has been freed from sin.”

The purpose of medicine is not to allow us to continue those behaviors which make us ill. Its purpose is to heal us. If we do not avoid those things which make us sick, the day will come when the medicine loses it’s effectiveness and we will not be cured. In the same way, the purpose of God’s grace is not to allow us to keep sinning, but to help us stop sinning altogether. If we try to use God’s grace as an excuse to keep sinning, God will no longer extend it to us. The Scriptures say, “If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God.” (Hebrews 10:26-27 NIV)

So what does God expect of us when He extends His grace to us through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ? Paul writes that we must die. Why does he say this? Weren’t we already dead, that is separated from God, because of our sin? Hasn’t God extended His grace to us so we might live?

The death Paul speaks of in this passage is not the death which is the consequence of sin. Instead it is dying to sin. Just as sin separated us from God, when we accept His grace we must die to sin, that is be separated from it. Paul’s point is that if we have died to sin, we will not live sinfully any longer.

How do we die to sin? Though Paul does not use the word here, part of dying to sin involves repentance, that is, renouncing and repudiating sin. We turn our backs on what separated us from God to seek Him.

Another part of dying to sin is participating in Christ’s death. Christ sacrificed His life on our behalf. We must identify so closely with His death that it is as though we ourselves died with Him. How is this possible? Paul writes that this takes place in baptism. When we are baptized, we are immersed completely in water. Just as Christ’s dead body was buried, so too our repentant self is buried in water.

There is an important corollary to dying with Christ. When we are baptized we are not only plunged beneath the water, we are also raised from it. The meaning is this: If we have joined Christ in death, we will also experience His resurrection.

In summary, we must die because we are sinners and the penalty for sin is death. But God, in His mercy gives us the choice of how we will die. We can choose to die with Christ, or we can die without Him. If we choose to die with Christ, we will also live with Him. If we choose to die without Christ, we will be separated from God forever. Have you repented of your sins? Have you been baptized into Christ’s death so that you are now alive in Christ?

How does dying with Christ affect the way we live our lives? Paul writes that we have been crucified with Christ. Our old self, our old way of thinking, our old passions and desires have been executed. Our old nature which was once controlled by sin is now powerless. Sin no longer controls us. We are free.

Paul points out that laws do not apply to dead people. Once we have died with Christ, the old rules, which stated that we could not do this or that, no longer apply to us either. We have been freed from the effects of sin.