Delving into the Scriptures

Romans 7:1-6

Or do you not know, brethren (for I speak to those who know the law), that the law has dominion over a man as long as he lives? For the woman who has a husband is bound by the law to her husband as long as he lives. But if the husband dies, she is released from the law of her husband. So then if, while her husband lives, she marries another man, she will be called an adulteress; but if her husband dies, she is free from that law, so that she is no adulteress, though she has married another man. Therefore, my brethren, you also have become dead to the law through the body of Christ, that you may be married to another—to Him who was raised from the dead, that we should bear fruit to God. For when we were in the flesh, the sinful passions which were aroused by the law were at work in our members to bear fruit to death. But now we have been delivered from the law, having died to what we were held by, so that we should serve in the newness of the Spirit and not in the oldness of the letter.

Welcome back to Delving into the Scriptures! Today Paul is giving us a great example of our salvation – and how we should live.

Firstly, as we have been over multiple times whilst studying Romans, we were dead in our sins – there was nothing we could do to get us out of that situation. To use the example above, we were bound to the law unto death! But, through the death of Jesus Christ, we have been freed from that law and are now bound to Him. We are freed from death and given a new life!

And if we like, we can use the same example Paul gives above in reverse. We were freed from sin through death – so now, we cannot go back! There will always be times in our lives when we will be tempted to sin (make sure you come back – we will be getting to that part in Romans very soon!), or times when we fall into sin. But, we have died to our sinful nature – we are no longer bound to sin, bearing fruit to death – we are free to live in newness of life with Jesus Christ!

To use the words of the scripture, we have been ‘delivered from the law‘. The law no longer has any hold on us. To us, it is dead.

So what does that mean though? Firstly, we know from previous scriptures that it doesn’t mean we are now free to sin as much as we want or desire – that was not the purpose of being free! Paul answers us in verse 6 – ‘so that we should serve in the newness of the Spirit‘. We have been freed from serving the law – but we are now to serve God through the Spirit.

This is one of the tougher doctrines of Christianity. Let’s look at it from a selfish point of view, which is where most of us will see it at some point or another. When we were in sin, we felt ‘free’ to do whatever we felt like. But if we are to become a Christian, we now live in ’servitude’ to God? Why would we become a Christian then? Why on earth would I want to give up the freedom to live my life ‘to the full’ to live by a bunch of rules???

There is really a lot to answer there, but the first answer is at the beginning - a selfish point of view! We are looking only at our point of view, our view of life as it stands at that moment. But there is more to life than just us! And I would say that ‘freedom’ that we think we have in Sin, is really slavery – slavery to sin, which brings eternal death and separation from God. It sometimes may not feel like slavery, but that is exactly what it is – we are all born into the slavery of sin, and we have no way out in our own power or strength.

To understand this better, we need to first look at the bigger picture. Why am I here? Am I just a multi cell organism evolved from cells that appeared when something exploded a few billion years ago (that is the short summary of the ‘Big Bang Theory’ taught to many)? Or, are we created? I don’t want to enter into the argument of creation here (there are millions of pages covering it already!), but Scripture says that God is evident to all creation through His creation, and I believe that. Looking at even many small parts of this world make me know there is a God (look at someone’s eye, or a pet’s eye, or your thumb, or…) – then adding all those small things into something larger (say, your body), and then in the end to the whole world, there absolutely must be a God!

And if we are created, who created us? Why were we created? Do we owe anything to this creator?

Once we get there, then we start to see the answers. We were created by a loving God because He wanted to create us, in His image, to serve and love Him, and for Him to love us. Short cutting the whole story here a little (you know – creation, first sin, the chosen people, the prophets, Jesus, the resurrection, the new church, you get the picture), we see that despite us being created to love and serve a living God, we are separated from Him through sin, yet He made a way for us to get back to Him through Jesus Christ, who took on our sins through His death (for without blood there is no remission of sin), so that we will be declared righteous before God!

So in reality, by serving and loving God, we are getting back to what we were initially created for! This is where we were meant to be, and where we will find true life, and complete fulfillment, and eternal life!

This is why we choose to love and serve our God. It is not a burden, it is not a chore. It is what we were created to do – and in it we find true freedom and peace. As the scripture says, ‘But now we have been delivered from the law, having died to what we were held by, so that we should serve in the newness of the Spirit and not in the oldness of the letter’.

Lord God, help us to understand what it means to be truly free. Help us to see through the fallacies of this world that would proclaim there is no God, and that freedom is in being selfish and doing whatever we please. Help us to live and serve in newness with You. In Jesus Name. Amen,.

Romans 6:15-23
What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? Certainly not! 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 leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness? But God be thanked that though you were slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered. And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness. I speak in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. For just as you presented your members as slaves of uncleanness, and of lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves of 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 is 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 is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Welcome back again to Delving into the Scriptures! Today we will wrap out Romans 6, but there is still plenty more on the topics of sin, grace and salvation to follow as we move into Romans 7!

This passage in Romans makes it clear that in this world you have two choices, and two choices only. You are a slave to that which you choose – sin, or God. You are either a slave to sin, and produce the fruit of more sin and eventually death – or you are a slave to God, and produce holiness and eternal life.

There is no third choice. There is no middle ground, no fence sitting.

It is one of the greatest deceptions of this world that there is a ‘middle ground’. You don’t do bad things, in fact, you are mostly a ‘good person’. You think to yourself ’surely God will recognize that’? You say to yourself ‘but I’m not a murderer, and I give to charity, and I have good will toward men’? But the Bible says this in John 3:36 “He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.”

One of the clearest definitions of sin is this – disobedience to God. So God has called you to obey Him – and if you are not obeying him, you are in sin. So if you are in the ‘middle ground’, then in reality you are in sin, as you are not obeying God! All you are doing is being self centered and defining the world based on your own internal reckoning – you are putting yourself and your own opinions above that of even the God who created you!

The true definition is who you are is in God’s eyes, and there are two choices – obedience, or sin. Romans 3:23 says “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God“.

There are no ‘good people’.

Let’s do that verse in John again for good measure -

John 3:36 “He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.”

So you are a slave to that which you choose (willingly or by default – because by not choosing you have chosen sin, as you will not be in obedience to God). A slave to sin brings the fruit of more sin and then death. A slave to God brings about obedience, righteousness, holiness and new life.

A slave isn’t the perfect analogy, and even Paul apologizes for it. However it is very appropriate – you remain a slave to that which you serve. If we are in sin we are in slavery to sin – it is our master, and we have no way out except through Jesus Christ. However if you are a slave to God you have to obey His commands, and His ways – we have freedom in Christ, but only within the bounds of what He has set out for us.

And that also is a good reminder for us – God has called us to obedience. Obedience in areas like prayer, fasting, reading scripture, fellowship (church), worship and more. These are things that He wants us to do – and things which will draw us closer to God, and His will, and His way. These are the things that as ’slaves’ to God, we need to be doing.

So in the end – sin leads to death. But God has given a greater gift – that of Jesus Christ, who will take us from both sin and death, and lead us to eternal life in Him.

Lord God, thank you for your Son. Thank you for providing a way out of being a slave to sin and death – and to new life in You. Help us to understand this, help us to know there is no middle ground, and that we are not naturally good people, but that we are sinful from the beginning. Teach us how to grow in righteousness lead us to new life in You. In Jesus Name. Amen.

Romans 6:12-14
Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts.  And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace.

Welcome back to Delving into the Scriptures! Today we will continue our study in Romans 6 with verses 12-14.

Firstly, what does it mean to ‘reign’? We are told not to let sin reign in our mortal bodies, so how do we interpret this? To reign is to have authority, or control – and to exercise that authority.  So quite simply we are not to let sin run our lives! It no longer has any authority over us – the temptations of sin will remain with us while we are here in this life, but it no longer owns us, it no longer has the authority to take us over.

And only we can allow it to retake that authority – so don’t let it!

Secondly, we are told not present our ‘members’, that is, parts of our body, be it hands, eyes, mouth or tongue, as instruments of unrighteousness. Another translation of the original language here is ‘weapons’ or ‘tools’ of unrighteousness, and certainly helps give us the picture of what is happening here. Do you want to allow yourself to sin, and be a weapon of unrighteousness, or do you want to commit your whole self to God, and therefore be a weapon (or instrument, tool) for Him?

A hammer is just that – a hammer. It can be a weapon, it can be a tool. It can be used to build a house, and in the same day, tear that same house down. In the end it is just a tool in the hands of its master, to do what he or she wills.

The choice is clear. We can be weapons, instruments or tools for one of two things – God, or sin. God can use us – and use every part of us to His glory and for His purpose, to bring about His will in this world. Or, we can choose to allow parts of us to be used as weapons against God, for that in the end is what they are being used for.

A great example here is our tongue – or even our fingers when working online in this modern world! We can choose to use them for instruments (weapons, tools) of unrighteousness, and pull down people, gossip, slander, spread hate, anger, and more. Or we can use these same things as instruments (weapons, tools) for God, and spread His word, His love and His work in this world through Jesus Christ!

So, don’t allow yourself, or any part of yourself to be a involved in sin, but use these things which God has given you as instruments of righteousness to God. Let Him use them to further His glory, rather than using them to sin!

And lastly, it is a reminder, for sin has NO dominion over us – sin has NO place to reign in our lives, unless we let it. Our bodies, our lives, our gifts and our abilities are all tools that can be used for one of two things – to build God’s kingdom or break it down. To be in God’s toolbox or Satan’s.

Which toolbox are you in?

Lord God, give us an understanding of Your grace. Teach us to know that sin has no dominion, only temptation. Teach us it has no place in our lives anymore and we can choose to use ourselves, our parts, our gifts, and the things you have given us for your glory, rather than against you. Help us to always find the way out of sins temptation and into your grace. In Jesus Name. Amen.

Romans 6:5-11
For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, 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 the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Welcome back to Delving into the Scriptures! Today we will continue our reading in Romans 6, focusing on sin.

I think we will find today’s scripture rather simple to start with – as Paul sums it up nicely at the end – Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

To start with – obviously we have not physically died yet – though we are to consider our ‘old man’ or ‘old self’ dead. We also know that though once we are saved we are dead to the old self, there will still be times that we will sin.

But now – it is different. Why?

In our ‘old self’, we were content to live in sin – sin wasn’t an issue, even if we knew it was sin. Now – we will still sin, but we are no longer comfortable doing it – we don’t want to live in sin anymore, and when we do, we are regretful (or angry at ourselves) for it. This is the key difference – we have moved from the place that we were more than happy (ignorant even) to live in sin – to a place where sin is something we don’t want. As Paul mentions above, ‘that we should no longer be slaves to sin‘.

For what really is a slave? A slave is someone who does someone else’s will – they have no will of their own,  no choice in the matter. We were slaves to sin – so we had no choice, we were just going to sin regardless. But we are free of that now – we do have a choice.

So, we are no longer comfortable with sin, and we now have a choice in the matter.  The words ‘reckon yourselves‘ speaks of a state of mind – we need to think of ourselves already in that new place, without the flesh. We need to make the choices to avoid sin, and keep it out of our lives.

Firstly, take encouragement from 1 Corinthians 10:13 (NLT) – The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can endure.

And finally, Galatians 2:20 (which many people know) summarizes everything we have been talking about today well -

I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.

- We have been crucified with Christ – our old selves are gone. Our desire to live a sinful and selfish life is gone. We are no longer slaves to sin.

- It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me – We now have the Spirit of God within us – guiding our desires. We look to live for Him now, instead of us!

- And the life which I now live in the flesh – yes, we are still physically alive, and we will still have ‘troubles of the flesh’

- I live by faith in the Son of God – This is the key here – we live by faith. We beleive that we are saved, and that God will look after us, guide us, provide a way to escape temptation for us, teach us, love us.

- who loved me and gave Himself for me – the gospel summed up in 8 words!

Lord God, thank you for freeing us from being slaves to sin. We know temptations will continue to come to us while we are still in this body – show us your way of escape – teach us to endure and no longer accept the bondage of slavery, but choose freedom in You. In Jesus Name. Amen.

So. Hows those new years resolutions coming along? I read somewhere recently the average resolution lasts 17 days – and we are almost there!

Are you still reading your Bible? If not – get back to it! If you are – congratulations! And let me give you this encouragement -

Matthew 4:4

But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’ ”

2 Timothy 3:16-17

All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.

Yep – these are the same to verses as last time – But they still apply! The Bible doesn’t need to be a new years resolution – it needs to be a way of life. Make it yours.

Lord God, help us to understand the importance of Your Word, and how it helps our relationship with You. Remind us, prod us, push us, pull us to read Your Word daily, and learn from it. In Jesus Name. Amen.

Welcome back to Delving into the Scriptures! Today we are starting out on Romans 6, which changes focus a little from the start of Romans to now look specifically at sin. Remember the context of Romans 5 (the Bible didn’t have chapters and verses when it was written – they were added later for our benefit) that all have sinned since Adam, and where sin abounded, Grace abounded more!

So if the book were to stop there, we could come up with an argument that maybe if we were to sin a little more, we would get even more grace. So if we were to sin a whole lot more – then we would abound in grace, so lets sin as hard as we can, that grace might abound! It is known that this was a way of thinking after Jesus death, and believed this section is now written to counter that specific doctrine. It is amazing – we have a doctrine of grace, and yet people want to twist it so they can continue to live the way they always have – or even sin more than they did before knowing Christ intentionally! Think about it – doesn’t it already sound wrong?

I think Paul covers the question with clear authority for a start - Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not! (emphasis mine). No! Of course not! A more casual translation might say ‘no way, that’s crazy talk!’. But why not?

Much of chapter 6 is devoted to refuting this false doctrine, but we are given a first answer immediately – we have died to sin. Not only that, our sin was figuratively buried with Jesus because of His death on the cross (He died as the ultimate sacrifice for sin for all of us), and now just as He was resurrected on the third day, we have been ‘made alive’ again with Him.

This is the start of the concept of ‘new life’. Yes, we will continue to sin, and have sin in our lives – that is just the way of it (wait till we get to Chapter 7, or read ahead if you want to hear it now!) – but we no longer live in sin – we no longer try to sin, or go out of our way to sin. The desire lives on in our flesh – our bodies – but we are no longer chained to that desire. In fact, our desire is moving the other way – to avoid sin. We now start to want to get away from sin, and to get it out of our lives!

There are many people in the world who ‘live in sin’. They aim to sin. Many of them don’t even categorise it as sin – it is just what they choose to do. Be it sex, drugs, alcohol, violence, crime, whatever – it is the thing they are ‘living in’. They go out of their way to do those things because it makes them feel good, or powerful, or takes them away from the cares of life for a time (and brings them back to reality with a hard whack usually). This is living in sin – and this is what we are free of now!

So what does it mean to ‘walk in newness of life’? Think about it – to walk is an action – to move along from one place to another. Usually in the Bible to walk in something means to do it, or continually do it. We don’t get our new life and them just sit back and relax! No! We need to ‘walk in it’ – constantly live and remind ourselves of this new life, and slowly move from the life of sin we once lived, to a life of holiness before our God. It’s not an instant transformation – forgiveness of sins is, but getting to the point where we are walking daily with God and avoiding sin all together is going to take some time.

So let’s get walking!

Lord God, give us the strength to walk in new life with You. Teach us to respond to our desire to sin with certainly not! Continue to give us revelation into what it means to be a child of Yours. In Jesus Name. Amen.

Matthew 4:4

But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’ ”

2 Timothy 3:16-17

All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.

Time for a quick off topic post. Have you considered how important it is to read your Bible? Take a read again of those verses above in that context.

For me, I read online using youversion.com – I link every scripture there too. Why? For me, online is easier – I read on my laptop or iphone, and it marks for me what I read.

That’s right – I have a daily plan, with set goals every day. I use the new reading plans here to help me do that (right now I am doing  Bible in 90 days). It might not be for you – but for me it helps, and it might just be the resource you need. You can choose from one of many reading plans, customise it to be faster or slower, or just create your own. You can also share your plan and set accountabilities if that helps.

Take a look - http://www.youversion.com/about/reading-plans

No, I’m not affiliated with them – I just think it’s a great idea! So get on with it and read your Bible – whichever way works for you!

God, place in us a desire to know you more, to read your word more, to understand you and what you want for our lives more. Help us to be all that you created us to be. In Jesus Name. Amen.

Romans 5:20-21

Moreover the law entered that the offense might abound. But where sin abounded, grace abounded much more, so that as sin reigned in death, even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Welcome back to Delving into the Scriptures! Today we will wrap up Romans 5, which with these two verses gives us an excellent summary of the message of Romans so far. Next time we move into Romans 6 – Sin…

The first thing we note is we are back on the law. The law entered that we might recognise sin for what it is. Sin wasn’t created by the law – just exposed. Just as when we shine a light on an object the light doesn’t create it – it is just the tool for revelation. So the law entered to reveal to us the things we were already doing.

And think about this some more, when sin ‘abounded’ it means it ‘grew’, or ‘grew abundantly’. In reality, our knowledge of sin had to grow to the point that we recognise there is nothing we can do about it on our own. We are stuck, drowning, incapable of saving ourselves. It is the law shining the light on our sin that brings us to this point – that is, the knowlege that we are stuck in our sins, with no way out!

And it was this revelation of sin that brings us to ‘grace through righteousness’ – for despite our sin, God’s grace is greater. And it is through this grace that the righteousness of God is imputed to us, which leads us to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord!

So lets break it down a little more – these verses are really a great summary of the message of the gospel!

Law - The law entered the scene that we might recognise our sin – it was always there, it has just shed light upon it

Sin - with the light of the law upon us, it becomes pretty obvious pretty fast that there is not much we can do about it – we are stuck in our sins! Powerless, there is nothing we can do of ourselves.

Death - The final outcome if Sin – not just physical death, but eternal death and separation from God.

Grace - Gods eternal grace to us – because He loves us. What does grace mean? The shortest definition I think is ‘unmerited favor’ – so we have God’s unmerited favor on our lives. I think that’s awesome, because I know for sure I don’t deserve it! (see sin, law )

Righteousness - not ours, but God’s righteousness imputed to us through Jesus when we beleive in Him.

Eternal Life – the outcome of us beleiving in God, and God’s righteousness being sent our way.

Jesus Christ our Lord – The whole reason we are still here – and where we are today – because He took our sins upon Himself – that we might be declared Righteous before God. The complete definition of love and grace!

I pray that all of us will gain more revelation of this into our lives – first, the revelation of where we are without God (stuck in our sins and rapidly on the path to death), and where we can be with Jesus in our lives (free of our sins and declared righteous before God!). If you ever need a quick reminder of the key points of the Gospel, here it is!

God, I pray You will continue to teach us Your Word, teach us and give us revelation so that we might not just know and understand, but act upon that and live in Your grace! In Jesus Name. Amen.

Happy new year to you all!

As we close out 2009, I just wanted to list out the most popular posts for Delving into the Scriptures – it’s interesting to see what people are looking for and want to read – the number one slot has double the views of number 2, which was double the next again!

So, people want to know God is Faithful – and how to deal with hard times in our life (which are very closely related!). I can’t wait to see what the end of 2010 will bring should we all still be here!

God is Faithful and Just – Romans 3:1-8

Rejoicing in Difficulty – Romans 5:1-5

Made Righteous – Romans 5:12-19

Saved from Wrath (the reality of Hell) – Romans 5:6-11

Yet while we were enemies – Romans 5:6-11

God Bless, and may 2010 be a year where you grow closer to Him, regardless of whatever else happens.

Drewe

Romans 5:12-19

Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned— (For until the law sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law. Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who had not sinned according to the likeness of the transgression of Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come. But the free gift is not like the offense. For if by the one man’s offense many died, much more the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abounded to many. And the gift is not like that which came through the one who sinned. For the judgment which came from one offense resulted in condemnation, but the free gift which came from many offenses resulted in justification. For if by the one man’s offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.)

Therefore, as through one man’s offense judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation, even so through one Man’s righteous act the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life. For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man’s obedience many will be made righteous.

Welcome back to Delving into the Scriptures! Today, we will look at what appears to be quite an involved section of scripture – and whilst there is truly a lot in there, there is a very simple message to come out of it.

• Everyone has sinned – personally.
• Through Adam, we also all inherited a sinful nature
• The result? Judgement and condemnation

Don’t stop here! That is just the first part of the message! The key here is everyone has sinned – both through personal sin, and by inheritance of the sinful nature that has existed since Adam sinned. There is no escaping sin. And even before the ‘law’ was given with Moses, sin still abounded (for example, look at the passage about Noah and the people of his time). There was not yet an express commandment to break (ie, Law), but the sinful nature of man was in full swing. So, we have established (again) that all have sinned – there is no one who can claim to be sinless (Jesus excepted).

So what is the second part of the message?

• Jesus died on the cross to save ‘all men’
• That death gained us justification
• In turn, we will be made righteous

So now we come to it – it’s the same message as we have been getting up to now in Romans. Jesus died for our sins, and we are now clean of them! And even as I type it, it remains amazing to me…

So lets cover one little tidbit in here,  ’the free gift came to all men‘. What does it mean? Is everyone saved? The quick answer – No! But can everyone be saved? Yes! The free gift is available to anyone who wants it. And it is just that – an undeserved gift that we had no right to expect or ability to gain on our own. But yet it is ours if we just ask for it.

And that, is the amazing summary of not just the book of Romans, but of the core message of the Bible. Keep it in focus always!

Lord God, continue to teach us to understand Your message to us – that of Jesus. Teach us in some way to know what it truly means, and how we can respond. In Jesus Name. Amen.