Romans 6:12-13

¹²Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions. ¹³ Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness.

Sin is always a tricky subject to talk, write or preach about. It’s the one thing we all have in common, but no-one’s sin is the same. We can see it systematically destroy someone’s reputation when revealed, but we could easily see it in ourselves if we looked hard enough. We know full well that Satan is on the prowl to lead us into it, but for the most part we just assume we’ll be alright today (and never are). We know that sin has no power over us in death, but we aren’t so sure about agreeing with Paul in Romans 6:14, Sin will have no dominion over you – is it talking about today or the last day? And finally, we can feel confused, on the one hand knowing we are responsible for sin and the other hand knowing that only God’s Spirit can strengthen us against sin. More on that last one in Romans 8 I think.

in Romans 6 Paul wants to help us with the spiritual battle against sin, and helpfully, he’s done it so far on doctrinal and theologically foundations. Have a look over the last few posts if you haven’t already. He’s goal is to show that sin is totally unjustifiable in the Christian life, it’s a completely irrational action for someone who has been crucified and raised with Jesus Christ. The fight against sin is rooted in knowing who we are, knowing what has happened to us, knowing that the whole reason we became a Christian was to put the body of sin to death, and live a new life to God. Paul now finishes his helpful instruction on sin in verses 12-14, wrapping things up, and encouraging us to see things clearly. Let’s look at verses 12 and 13.

12Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions. This is the summary conclusion of the matter. Since we are in Christ, who died to sin and lives to God, let. not. sin. reign. Paul knows the Christian life is a constant battle, for as long as we dwell in this mortal body, we will be surrounded by sin. But verse 12 is a call to fight, to fight for our life. It is the fight over who will reign in your life, the fight to dethrone sin and re-instate Jesus. For sin desires to control your mortal body, it want’s to make you obey its passions. The default position of our moral bodies of sin is being controlled by sin. But Christians are called to start fighting – “Let it not be so!” is the beginnings of our resistance. And so I ask you, (and myself), have you got the theological foundations outlined in the previous verses clear? Are you convicted with Paul in verse 12 that we should be fighting? Think of those large persistent sins in your life, bring them to mind, the one’s whose passions you’ve obeyed for years. Are you resolved to say, “let not them reign, they should not be reigning, they must go, for I am in Christ and the body of sin was brought to nothing that I might live to God”? Are you ready and willing to revolt against sin’s rule in those parts of your life and enthrone Christ over this area of your life?

If the answer to those questions is yes, then you are ready to hear Paul’s battle plan in verse 13, Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness. It may not be what you were hoping to hear. There’s no 5 step plan to holiness, just one decision, and this really is the heart of the matter. Who will you present your body to as an instrument? The word ‘present’ awakens images of a soldier or servant coming before a king, prostrating themselves before their master, waiting, ready and listening to their orders. It also awakens images of an offering, presenting ourselves on the altar before God as a sacrifice. The word instrument conjures up images of tools, weapons. And so, to present our members as instruments to either sin or God, is to actively enter the presence of one or the other and say, “I am here to do your bidding. I offer myself to you, use me as you will”. That is what we say when we give in to sin’s temptation. It takes no effort to present ourselves to sin. But what a fight it will be, a victorious fight, when we present ourselves humbly before God and say, “I am here to do your bidding to listen to your words, to heed your instruction, and to do what you command. My body is here to be used for your glory.” That is where the fight against sin is won or lost. With that one decision. Who will we present our members to?

The 5 step plans, the gritting of our teeth, new years resolutions, they might have a place in the fight – but they are mere slingshots against this nuclear device – the active, real presentation of ourself before God as an instrument of righteousness.

I feel an entire post needs to be given to unpack that and ground that. What does that actually look like in day to day life? I want to have a go at laying that out next time. Until then, let’s pray,

Heavenly Father, I thank you for the clarity your Word brings to things, the simple logic that cuts us to the heart and transforms us. Father I pray that you would use your words in Romans to awaken me to the fight against sin. That this would be a battle call that resounds for years to come. Father thank you that you united us to Christ, that you brought the body of sin to nothing, and raised us with Christ to newness of life. May this be the bedrock of our fight, not fleshy determination or emotional strength – things that waver and fall. Father, may it be the sure knowledge of who we are in Christ that leads us to say with Paul , ‘let not sin reign!’. Help us to know what it means to present ourselves to you as instruments for righteousness. And help us by your Spirit to do it. In Christ’s wonderful name, Amen.

Humbled and excited,

Matt.

Romans 6:4-11

⁴We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.

⁵For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. ⁶We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. ⁷For one who has died has been set free from sin. ⁸Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. ⁹We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. ¹⁰For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. ¹¹So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.

In our last post, we saw Paul begin his impassioned reply in answer to an objection that he knew would be asked of him by opponents and mockers. Having said ‘When sin abounds, grace abounds all the more” at the end of chapter 5, he knows some will say, “Then, why not sin all the more that grace might abound all the more?!” – It’s a question he’s already touched on once, back at the start of chapter 3. But now it’s time to really pull it apart once and for he. He began, as we saw in our last post, revealing the doctrinal ignorance of his opponents – who obviously did not understand the cross, or their Christian conversion (if they really had one), which was a union with Christ in spiritual baptism. They just didn’t understand this obvious, but profound statement, “How can we who died to sin still live in it?” Paul now takes the opportunity given by his hypothetical objectors to teach us about the place of sin in the Christian life.

Verse 4 is the crux of his argument from which the following verses flow, We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.

Verse 5 is there to cement the logic of verse 4, For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. Paul is saying, ‘of course it’s true that we have been raised with Christ to walk in newness of life (v4), you can’t divorce the crucifiction from the resurrection. So if we were united with Christ on the cross, if we were bound up with him in a spiritual sense on the cross, of course it follows that we were still bound with him as he rose from the dead. We’re united with Christ in newness of life.

I think verses 6 and 7 are an important side point, but slightly distinct from the flow of his argument. Paul wants to make sure his objectors understand fully what it means that we ‘have been united with him in a death like his’ (v5) before he goes on.

Verse 6, We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. Paul’s logic against the would be objectors is brilliant here, he’s saying, “You do realise that the whole reason someone becomes a Christian, and wishes to be united with Christ in spiritual baptism with him is so that the body of sin might be brought to nothing?’ You do realise that becoming a Christian is the very act of no longer being enslaved to sin?” – So how on earth could a Christian possibly justify sin?

Verse 7 sums it up succinctly, For one who has died has been set free from sin.  It’s simple, if you’ve died with Christ spiritually, you’ve been set free from sin spiritually.

Having made that point clear, Paul returns to the main flow of logic he set out in verse 5 – verse 8, very similar to verse 5, picks the argument back up again; Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him (as he made clear in verse 5)

Now in verse 9, he begins unfolding his main thesis, the principle focus being the nature of Christ’s resurrection, which as he’s made clear already, Christians have definitely experienced along with him. So, verse 9, We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. Christ rose from the dead never to die again. Thus, death no longer has dominion over him, it has no power over him – and therefore it has no power over those in him. Us! The point is not that Christians are immortal, but are similarly freed from the power of death, i.e., the power of sin. The two are intimately linked, and if we are intimately linked with Christ, our death is merely a physical death with sin bearing no power over us, as 1 Corinthians 15 makes clear, “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?” The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.  (v55-57) Our death will be victorious because Christ’s resurrection was victorious over the condemning power of death (which is sin, empowered by the law with convicts us).

Verse 10 fleshes this out with even more clarity, For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. That is, Christ’s death which he died was for the purpose of dying to end the power of sin, once for all (this sacrifice will never be repeated, it doesn’t need to be). And now, the new life he lives he lives to God – the point being not that he previously didn’t live to God, but that once resurrected, Christ began his eternal rule of life – though ’sin’ and ‘Jesus’ met on the cross, with Jesus being crushed by it to destroy it, ’sin’ and ‘Jesus’ are now so infinitely and eternally divorced. He lives to the God of holiness now in sinless perfection. Paul says it like this to most helpfully lead into his pastoral implication in verse 11;

“So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin, and alive to God in Christ Jesus“. You are in Christ, so imitate him. You are dead to sin, you are alive to God, so live out who you are! Just as Christ died to sin and is now alive to God, so must we be. You are bound up in the risen Christ who defeated sin and death, so if you are in him, death is dead to you! So of course, you must consider yourselves dead to something that is dead – don’t go playing with corpses, don’t return to something to which is now entirely alien to you. And you are bound up in the risen Christ who now lives to the God of holiness – do likewise, sin no more!

So the conclusion of the matter is this, says Paul. Far from promoting sin, the gospel of the abounding grace of Christ over sin is the chief basis and conviction by which we now seek to a life without sin, in holiness for the glory of God.

Do you need to get real with sin in your life. I know I do. And I thank God for this passage of clarity, and look forward to more instruction on the matter,

Matt.

P.S – This is the 50th post on Romans1133! Hooray! Thanks for reading!

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Romans 6:1-4

¹What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? ²By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it?³Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? ⁴We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.

Paul has finished his complex, but compelling comparison between Adam and Christ, with the verdict being that Christ is supreme, his grace is all-conquering, and his justification is full of righteousness leading to eternal life. At this point, Paul could easily jump to Chapter 8 verse 1, it fits perfectly, “There is therefore no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” And on he could have gone to speak of the wonderful life of the Spirit the Christian now lives, full of assurance, hope in suffering, glory and unending mercy and love as he does in the rest of Romans 8. It runs on perfectly from Romans 5, in fact 8:1 is almost a direct paraphrase or inference of 5:18.

So why are Romans 6 and 7 here? Do they really need to be here? The answer is, unfortunately, yes.  For wherever clear, concise and glorious gospel truths are proclaimed, like those that have been clearly stated in Romans 5, there will always be mockers and false teachers who will question them and try to pull them apart. There has always been, and always will be those who love to argue, and quarrel and qualify. They will try to find the loophole simply because they want to find one, or they will qualify and quarrel because they want to justify sin. It’s not the questioning that is the problem – questions are great – but the attitude in which they are asked. This is clearly the case as Paul turns to his would be arguers at the beginning of Romans 6.

The phrase Paul has just written, “Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more” (5:20), should bring forth praise and thanksgiving on our lips, wonder and amazement at the abounding triumph of grace over sin. But Paul knows all too well that some will respond differently. He knows, and has probably come across, people who will respond, “If grace abounds more and more wherever sin increases, then why don’t we sin more and more so that the grace will be even more glorious? Why don’t we continue in sin that grace may abound?“ (6:1) On a bare mathematical level, this response kind of makes sense, if we sin more, then grace will be more gracious over our sin. But you can see how childish and malevolent the question is? Does it sound like the question of someone who understands sin, understand grace, understands forgiveness, understands the cross – to ask ‘well, clearly then we should be sinning all the more’. It smacks of complete disregard for the holiness of God, it demonstrates not even the slightest understanding of Christ or his cross – and yet it would come from the lips of someone either trying to be pious and pretend to be seeking God’s glory in his grace, or from the lips of someone trying to show that Paul’s previous logic is false. In reality, it is coming from a self-centered person who knows very little, or nothing of Christ or the Christian experience of conversion, as Paul emphatically demonstrates in the next few verses;

By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? (v2)

Why not go on sinning that grace may abound? Paul says, “You just don’t get it do you?! Don’t you know, or have any conception of how ridiculous and pathetic that argument is? Christians are DEAD to sin, we died to it, how is it ever justifiable that we should continue to live and breathe and delight in it? You fools, that you would suggest, probably for your own evil motives, suggest that we should continue in sin that grace might abound! Continue in sin? How can we who died to sin continue in it?!”

I find that sentence in verse 2 one of the most simple and profound weapons against not only seductive teachers, but also against seductive temptations. “How can we who died to sin still live in it?” The contrast there is so blunt – you are dead to sin, you died to it, your relationship with it is like a relationship with a corpse, over, non-existent, no passion, no life, no nothing! How then, why then, could you – would you! – live in it again? The answer, if we are thinking with the least bit of sense is, “Well I can’t see any reason at all why I would do that – I’d have to deny the very reason and essence of why I became a Christian – and how I became a Christian”. Paul makes this clear as he begins in verse 3 to explain theologically how we came to die and sin (and therefore can no longer live in it);

3Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?

Paul is saying, “Listen, being baptized into Christ Jesus, becoming a Christian, is all about being baptized into death. The very act of baptism, symbolic of being covered in the depths demonstrates this. But it’s much more than the literal ceremony of baptism – that’s not what’s really important. Have you been baptized spiritually, inwardly? Being ‘baptized into Christ’ is about being spiritually united to him, in his death on the cross – “I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live but Christ lives in me” (Gal. 2:20).  You’re old self is put to death on the cross, you came to Christ that your inner Adam, your old self might be done away with. It was done away with on the cross, you were united with Christ in his death. That old you of sin and death died with him. And that’s only half the story!  Just as being covered in water is only half the baptism ceremony – being crucified with Christ is half the inward baptism story;

4We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.

We didn’t just die with Christ, we were raised again with him. And what was raised again? Was it the old body of sin? No! We are raised anew that we too might walk in newness of life. Newness, not oldness of life!” Thus Paul defends grace, he defends the cross, he defends the entire Christian experience of conversion from those who wish to ignore it so they can justify sin. As Christians, we need to be so careful to understand our real relationship with sin.

We are dead to it. We really did die to it, in Christ. We are really born again, raised with Christ in full spiritual baptism – we should have an attitude that sin is alien to us, far from justifiable to us. Sin is never justifiable, we can’t play mind games with God or run and cover under some self-piety of making his grace looks glorious. It sounds ridiculous, but if I’m honest, I can see it my own heart at times. Sin is sin is sin is sin – it was our sin that held Christ to his cross, how could we contemplate returning there once more? I look forward to Paul fleshing this out further in Romans 6, as he tries to help us get our heads around how we are to think of, and deal with, sin in the Christian life.

Really good to be blogging more regularly, very refreshing to be back,

Matt.

Romans 5:18-21

¹⁸Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men.¹⁹For as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous. ²⁰Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, ²¹so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

In these final verses of chapter 5, Paul looks at three more comparisons between Adam and Christ. His goal is to magnify the glory and wonder of what Christ did for us, and is for us. Christ’s action of grace and obedience was infinitely more powerful and awesome than Adam’s act. Though both actions have massive implications for the people who are associated with them, Christ’s work absolutely absolves and renders powerless the consequences of Adam’s condemnation upon us. This is the wonder and glory of justification by faith – that by nothing of our own doing, we have Christ’s life and righteousness imputed upon us, freeing us from our first and fleshy imputation from Adam. This is the wonder and glory of grace, that we, dead sinners, are by Christ’s act of grace, and Christ’s obedience, and Christ’s righteousness counted as obedient and righteousness before God. There is no hint of mutual co-operation in this, but rather one party, namely the God of mercy, acting on our behalf to adopt us into Christ and impute to us perfect righteousness and life. This is the wonder and glory of Romans 5. Let’s look at his final three comparisons between Adam and Christ;

Comparison 4 (v18) – Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men.

The comparison here seems at first identical to verse 16. Both look at the result of each man’s action – the single trespass of Adam leads to condemnation, Christ’s single act of righteousness leads to justification and life. But what Paul brings out that is new in this verse is the scope of each man’s action. Just as the sin of Adam in the garden led to the condemnation of all, so Christ’s righteous act leads to the justification of all. That doesn’t sound right does it. Life for all men? Is Paul suddenly preaching universalism – the belief that all of humanity will be saved in the end? Not at all. One verse earlier in v17 he spoke of life coming those who receive the gift of grace in Christ, not to mention everything we’ve come across in Romans so far being based around the premise that all of humanity is not saved, and desperately needs a righteousness from God to avoid judgement. No, Paul is far from preaching universalism.

His point is much more wonderful than any weak interpretation like that. The message in this comparison is one of hope. Hope to murderers, rapists, thieves, adulterers, liars, idolaters and greedy sinners. All men. Christ’s act of righteousness leads to the justification of all, yes ALL (no matter how unrighteous they may seem to be), who are found in him by faith. That is the glory and wonder of Christ being viewed here. That his grace abounds for all who come, regardless of who they are or what they’ve done. Adam blankets all people in death, that’s nothing special. But Christ covering those same sinners in eternal life – that’s incredible. So that even the most broken heart can ask,  ’Even I, yes even I can be found in him?’, and we reply, ‘Without one doubt’.

Comparison 5 (v19) – For as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous.

The ‘for’ at the beginning of this sentence links it back to comparison 4. I think Paul put it here to explain the ‘mechanics’ behind verse 18. Why did the trespass lead to condemnation (18)? Answer, v19, for by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners. And why did the act of righteousness lead to justification and life to those in Christ (18)? Answer, v19, for by Christ’s obedience the many will be made righteous. It is not a mere abstract imputation, as though God just considers those in Adam deserving of condemnation, and those in Christ deserving of life – no, those in Adam are really and concretely made sinners, and those in Christ are really made righteous. It is not a mere thought game in God’s head; the action of Adam and Christ really define and make us who we are before him, not just who we are to him in his mind. How amazing then is Christ action! As 2 Corinthians 5 says, those who are in Christ are a whole new creation.

Comparison 6 (v20-21) - Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Paul’s final comparison between Adam and Christ is this; though the increase of sin is great, wherever sin increases, grace triumphs spectacularly through it. In other words, Adam’s curse will not have the final say in this world. For wherever the curse remains, grace is waiting to pounce, and pounce it will – abounded infinite times over, and abounding to a glorious reign of eternal life and righteousness. Just when it seems that sin is out of control, and there is no hope and there is only death, that is when grace appears – and the deeper someone is drowning in sin, the more beautiful and amazing and gracious grace is to them. Can you see Paul’s logic here? How good is righteousness by faith, that just when we feel in ourselves or see in our world that sin is growing out of control and abounding and reigning in death everywhere – that is the time we can turn to grace, and see it cancel sin out in our lives, or see others come to trust in Christ and be forgiven! In other words, there can never be a time when grace of Christ will not reign, for it is precisely when sin looks to be most in control that grace is most in control and reigning – reigning over sinners so full of sin, giving them eternal life through Jesus Christ, our gracious and obedient and righteous Lord, friend and redeemer.

Do you love the doctrine of justification by faith? Do you love the doctrine of imputation? Have you embraced Christ by faith as a sinner who is lost in Adam’s trespass? If the answer to these questions is no, can I encourage you to keep searching and asking questions, to keep reading Romans, and to put your trust in him. If the answer was yes, then love these truths, thank God for these truths, glory and rejoice in these truths, live for these truths, and die for these truths!

For nothing is of more worth in the universe than being found in Christ, “not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith” (Phil. 3:9).

Amen,

Matt.

Romans 5:15-17

¹⁵But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if many died through one man’s trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many.¹⁶And the free gift is not like the result of that one man’s sin. For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brought justification. ¹⁷For if, because of one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ.

Yesterday we flew into the second half of Romans 5, a tough nut to crack. We saw how Adam and Christ are the same; they are figureheads of humanity, you’re either in one or the other. God either sees you in Adam, as one who sinned with Adam in the garden, or God sees you as in Christ, as one who obeyed perfectly. And God will treat us accordingly, death or eternal life. Paul wants to show us the amazing gifts of justification by faith in Christ – Imputed righteousness, eternal life, freedom from the imputed unrighteousness of Adam, by contrasting the two. In verses 5:15-21 he outlines their characteristics, continuing to emphasise how they are identically patterned, but polarised to the extreme. The helpful picture is the Sahara Desert and the Swiss Alps – they both have similar, but opposite, effects on those who are in them – the climate of one leads to much death, one the climate of the other leads to much life. The ‘climate leading to much…’ being the similarity. So let’s look at the first three comparison in verses 15-17, and we’ll look at the final three in verses 18-21 in the next post.

Comparison 1 (v15) – But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if many died through one man’s trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many.

The comparison here is between Adam’s trespass and Christ’s obedience. If one man’s trespass brought about the death of so many, Paul is certain that Christ’s free gift of grace (which is also the grace of God expressed, notice the doubling in the verse),  will abound for many (to life, I assume). The outpouring of life through the gracious act of Christ is even greater and more abounding than the outpouring of death through Adam’s disobedience.

Comparison 2 (v16) – And the free gift is not like the result of that one man’s sin. For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brought justification.

Here the comparison is between the judgements of God that each action leads to. Adam’s trespass brings condemnation to all in Adam, Christ’s free gift brings justification, even though it follows many trespasses. Thus, Christ’s free gift trumps the disobedience, it can justify those who have trespassed many times, though Adam’s one singular trespass spells utter condemnation. One is absolutely condemning, one is absolutely absolving. Those in Adam have no hope in remaining in him, those in Christ, can now have perfect hope despite past sins and guilt.

Comparison 3 (v17) - For if, because of one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ.

Paul’s point here is spectacular, and so easy to miss! Death reigns in the lives of all in Adam, because as we saw in verse 16, it brings complete condemnation from God. But those who receive the absolving, gracious, free gift of righteousness will reign in life through Christ. Death reigns in Adam, but those in Christ reign in life! Christians reign! We are victors, we are kings and queens of life, through Christ. It is the comparison of a slave and a king, one is chained by death, one rules in life through the one man Jesus Christ. Paul is not saying anything about the physical or material nature of life when he says we ‘reign’, he is highlighting how spectacularly alive we are when we are in Christ – we are so alive, compared to how dead we were – he is polarizing the two outcomes as much as he can, to show us once more how glorious justification by faith, and imputed righteousness is. Death reigned over you when you were in Adam, now you reign in life in Christ! It is universe shattering stuff.

Stay tuned for the next three.

Undeservedly reigning in life with you,

Matt.

Romans 5:12-15

¹²Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned— ¹³for sin indeed was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not counted where there is no law. ¹⁴Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sinning was not like the transgression of Adam, who was a type of the one who was to come. ¹⁵But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if many died through one man’s trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many.

201 in 2010 is my goal. That is, this year I hope to post 201 times on this site – an average of 4 a week. That’s exciting, but if we’re honest (and we take into account my previous attempts at consistency here), it’s almost impossible to believe. Sigh. But I’m starting to think ‘why not?’, is it really that hard? And I start getting excited about the possibilities. With 201 posts, averaging 5 verses each, I can cover 1000 verses – that’s the rest of Romans, both the Corinthians and Galatians too! Would appreciate it if you sent up a prayer for my perseverance, and would be very encouraged if you left a comment that you read this (so I know I can be kept accountable!)

Onto Romans then. This is long one, so strap in, there’s gold to be had.

We have just (3 months ago) witnessed in the opening of Romans 5 the amazing love of Christ, which is the bedrock of our assurance of justification by faith in him – an assurance that leads us to rejoice, even in sufferings. Paul now takes an interesting turn, and compares Christ to Adam, in order that we might see more fully the riches of what he won for us (namely, justification and the imputation of righteousness). It might seem strange that Paul would compare Christ to Adam, and then even say that they have a lot in common – aren’t they polar opposites? In a way, yes they are complete opposites, but Paul wants to show us that while they are opposite in almost every way, their lives and actions are remarkably similar in their pattern  - especially in relation to us, the human race.

But as you might have noticed, this section of Romans is very tricky to read and get our heads around. You feel the roughness as soon as you read verses 12 and 13; Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned – for sin indeed was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not counted where there is no law.

Yes, those alarm bells in your head are not misfiring, there is a grammatical error here. Paul sets himself up to make a point by comparing two things, but only states one. He begins with the ‘therefore’, and says ‘just as…’ but there is no ‘…so also’. We’ve got the start, but not the end of the sentence. The sentence is abruptly stopped after ‘all sinned’ – which is why the ESV has put a hyphen there. By placing verse 15 onto the end of verse 12, we find what Paul was probably going to say, “Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned, (v12) so also, the grace of God and the free gift of grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many (leading to eternal life) (v15, v21). Thus, we make sense of the often confusing phrase at the end of verse 14 that Adam was a ‘type of the one who was to come’  - or a ‘pattern’ as the NIV says. Adam is the same as Jesus, in the way that the dry Sahara desert is the same as the verdant Swiss Alps. Not same in nature (quiet opposite in fact), but same in pattern – just as all who find themselves in the Sahara get thirstier and die, so also, all who find themselves in the Alps get quenched and healthier. The similarity is in their bearing upon those who find themselves in them – they both affect people’s destiny in a similar (but opposite) extreme manner. One leads to death (and lots of it), one leads to life (and lots of it).

So it is with Christ and Adam. But before he can go on to flesh out this wonderful truth for us, Paul stops himself mid sentence in verse 12 to clarify something. What does it mean that all sinned (v12)? Does that mean, ‘Sin came into the world through Adam, and death through that sin, and so death spread to all men because all individually then sinned like Adam did in the garden’, or does it mean, ‘Sin came into the world through Adam, and death through that sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned with Adam in the garden’. Can you see how this could go either way? Can you see the difference. Read them again if needs be.

I am convinced Paul meant the latter option. It is the less convenient option for our brains, but the much more faithful option to the text. Somehow, mysteriously, the action of Adam was our action too. We sinned in Adam, with Adam in the garden. Though we were not there bodily in the garden, his action is our action. It is imputed to us, we will be held responsible for it, and death will come to us, not firstly because we sinned bodily in our own lives, but because deeper down we are in Adam – we are counted as a child of Adam, we were with him and in him as he sinned.

Now I understand very well that this is very hard for us to conceptualize and grasp – especially since our individualistic culture doesn’t make room for categories like this. But it is what the text is saying. Let me show you 1 weak reason, and 2 very strong reasons why I think it must be this way.

1. The simplest is that it says, ‘all sinned’ – not ‘all sin’. Though I don’t know whether the Greek actually emphasises this (and so it’s a weak argument), if Paul were telling us that death spread to us because we sin like Adam, not with him, he would have put ‘all sin’, not past tense, and made it clear using a comparative word such as ‘like’. That’s the weak reason.

2. A much stronger reason is that we cannot make sense of verses 13 and 14 unless we see them as verses proving that we sinned with Adam. It’s the very point Paul is making in these verses. “For sin indeed was in the world before the law was given” – that is, we know sin was around before the Mosaic law, “but sin is not counted where there is no law” – that is, these sinners before the Mosaic law could not be held accountable or punished by a law that was yet to appear. “Yet, death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sinning was not like the transgression of Adam” – Paul is saying, the people between Adam and Moses died, even though they had not sinned against the Mosaic law (like Adam did against the law in Eden), because they had already sinned with Adam. That’s why they died. Why else would they have died, unless they were being counted with Adam, in Adam, as Adam? Paul is making clear that our relationship with Adam is one of imputation – that is, the language of being with and in someone else – having their actions be seen as yours, and your actions being seen as theirs. All of humanity, be virtue of being Adam’s children are in him, and sinned with him in the garden.

3. This leads to the most powerful reason why it is important we say with Paul that we sinned with and in Adam and share in his death – it’s because Paul is comparing Adam and Christ, they are patterns of each other in relation to their bearing on us. If we say, as most would, that, ‘Through Adam sin and death entered the world and death spread to everybody because all sinned individually like Adam,’ then the comparison with Jesus must say likewise, “So also through one man, Jesus Christ, obedience and life entered the world and life spread to all because all individually did acts of obedience like Jesus”. And suddenly all of Romans 5 falls apart and doesn’t make sense. Justification by faith, and the imputation of Christ’s obedience ceases to exist.

You see, we are very happy with the doctrine of Christ’s imputation of obedience – i.e., we love being in Christ, and having Christ’s obedience counted as our obedience, and having life spread to us accordingly. But we begrudge against the doctrine of Adam’s disobedience, we hate being cursed because of ’someone else’s action’, or getting death because ’someone else stuffed up’.

But that’s not what happened. It wasn’t someone else’s action, it was our action.

If you’re still struggling, have a think about the cross. Who crucified Jesus? Who was there in the crowds mocking him, who hurled the insults? Was it not you? With one voice the crowd, the world yelled ‘Crucify him!’, and we yelled too.

The good news is that when we see our sinfulness, in the garden, and at Gethsemane, we can turn to Christ in faith and humility and be forgiven. More than that, we are actually transferred from being counted in Adam and the crowd to being counted in Christ. And suddenly, breathtakingly, it is not the disobedience of Adam that defines our eternal destiny, but the obedience of Christ. Suddenly, we are counted righteous, we are counted with Christ as one who has never sinned. We are not in Adam, but in Christ. God no longer sees us as Adam, but as his beloved child, Christ. Suddenly, we find ourselves worshipping the King and Lord of the universe, who died to save Adam – me.

Savouring the doctrine and grace of imputation,

Matt.

Psalm 119:97-104

⁹⁷Oh how I love your law!
   It is my meditation all the day.
⁹⁸Your commandment makes me wiser than my enemies,
   for it is ever with me.
⁹⁹I have more understanding than all my teachers,
   for your testimonies are my meditation.
¹⁰⁰I understand more than the aged,
   for I keep your precepts.
¹⁰¹I hold back my feet from every evil way,
   in order to keep your word.
¹⁰²I do not turn aside from your rules,
   for you have taught me.
¹⁰³How sweet are your words to my taste,
   sweeter than honey to my mouth!
¹⁰⁴Through your precepts I get understanding;
   therefore I hate every false way.

Just when you think the Psalmist had said everything he could say about the Word of God…he comes out with more gold. He just keeps digging deeper and deeper – a seemingly inexhaustible supply of gold to lay in front of our eyes – it’s almost like he really wants us to understand what he sees!

For me, the verse before this passage, v96, was the climax of the psalm so far; “I have seen a limit to all perfection; but your commandment is exceedingly broad“. In other words, if you were to compare the Word of God to that which is ‘perfect’ – were there even such a thing in this universe – the ‘perfect’ thing would appear to be bounded and limited compared to the Word of God. That changes everything. If we were to get that, and I pray that we would, we would say what the Psalmist goes on to say here in today’s passage;

⁹⁷Oh how I love your law!
   It is my meditation all the day.
⁹⁸Your commandment makes me wiser than my enemies,
   for it is ever with me.
⁹⁹I have more understanding than all my teachers,
   for your testimonies are my meditation.

It makes sense doesn’t it? This here is the natural response of a heart that has beheld the infinite wonder and glory and riches of the instruction, wisdom and word of God. He loves it. He exclaims his love for it. It is his meditation all day, it sits on his mind, and makes him wiser and more discerning than all around him. We are to be people of the word - the word that is all about Christ, and so ultimately, we are to treasure and meditate on Christ as revealed in the word - for he is the Word. Then we will indeed have understanding and wisdom. Any lesser response to v96 is simply unthinkable (but so common in my life).

 ¹⁰³How sweet are your words to my taste,
   sweeter than honey to my mouth!
¹⁰⁴Through your precepts I get understanding;
   therefore I hate every false way.

How sweet are the things of this world to my taste! Sweeter than honey to my mouth! Through the world I get understanding, therefore I love every false way. Don’t you feel these verses grating against your conscience? I certainly do. What is the sweetest, most delightful object of pleasure and joy in your life? What could you listen to, or sit in front of, or do, in place of anything else in the world? For me, it is not the bible. It is not God’s very words entering my mind. 

But there is no other way to get understanding, and there is no other way by which we will come to truly hate those sinful false ways which we feel deep down should be hated, but aren’t. So what are we waiting for? Become a man or woman of the Word, of Christ revealed in Scripture, the very words of God, sweeter than honey, giving life, understanding, discernment and wisdom to all who would come and read it.

What am I waiting for? Most of the time, I’m waiting for an excuse to leave it sitting there on the coffee table. 

Who is strong enough to turn this worldly heart of mine towards it daily and constantly?

Praising and loving the Christ to whom I pray,

Matt.

Psalm 119:89-96

89Forever, O LORD, your word is firmly fixed in the heavens. 90Your faithfulness endures to all generations; you have established the earth, and it stands fast. 91By your appointment they stand this day, for all things are your servants. 92If your law had not been my delight, I would have perished in my affliction. 93I will never forget your precepts, for by them you have given me life. 94I am yours; save me, for I have sought your precepts. 95The wicked lie in wait to destroy me, but I consider your testimonies. 96I have seen a limit to all perfection, but your commandment is exceedingly broad.

Here’s what I’ve noticed recently; my view of God’s Word is way too small. Too flippant. Too wishy washy. And I think there’s a chance yours might be too, at least in comparison to the Psalmist. In a Psalm all about the word of God, the precepts and commandments of God, and the law of God – this little section elevates it the highest point so far - we have here a crescendo of praise for the Word of God. So, how does the Psalmist go about painting his impression of God’s word? This is what he says of it;

It is eternal. “Forever, O LORD, your word is firmly fixed in the heavens” (v89). What God says, stays said - forever. It is firmly fixed, like a giant rivet in a bridge, so is the word of God bolted in and firmly fixed in the heavens themselves. It is not about to move. When God speaks, he does not speak rashly or without thought – no, he says things that he knows he will be accountable to for all eternity, more than that – which will account for all eternity. For as we will soon see, nothing that is, was not brought into existence by his eternal word.

It is faithful. “Your faithfulness endures to all generations; you have established the earth, and it stands fast” (v90). Closely connected to the fact that God’s word is never-fading, is the fact that it is never-failing either. The earth itself, which was established by His word (as Genesis 1 makes clear), is a testament to this, it stands fast, so does his promise. We can be sure that God’s word and promise to us in Christ will be brought to completion, for the faithfulness of God’s word endures through all generations – including yours.

Through it God masters the world. “By your appointment they stand this day, for all things are your servants” (v91). The heavens and the earth came into being by his spoken word, his ‘appointment‘ – and so they continue to remain to this day. The sun did not rise this morning because it ‘always does’ – no, it only rose because God appointed that it should and would, for the sun is his servant (or the rotating earth is his servant, whichever you want to look at it!) We must not get into thinking that God set creation off like a clock, and only intervenes when he desires to, or when he wants to ‘do miracles’. Rather, we must hold to the teaching that all things, at all times, are held in their exact place by his appointment. And last time I checked, you make appointments by your word. So it is with God; he masters the world and makes it subservient to his every desire; all by his word.

It is the psalmist’s delight and salvation. “If your law had not been my delight, I would have perished in my affliction. I will never forget your precepts, for by them you have given me life. I am yours; save me, for I have sought your precepts. The wicked lie in wait to destroy me, but I consider your testimonies” (vv92-95). Do we, like the Psalmist, consider the law and word of God the one single thing that saved us? Do we pick up our bibles and think, ‘the only flotation device in the universe for drowning sinners’? It is very simple. If the law of God is not our delight, we perish. If we forget the precepts of God, we do not have life. If we do not seek the precepts of God, and give our lives to him – we will not be saved. If we do not consider the testimonies of God, the wicked one will destroy us. The Psalmist is not choosing ‘one of many paths’ in these verses, he has chosen the one single path to life – the word of God. If you think otherwise, then tell me this - how did you become a Christian if it were not through the reading, seeking, preaching, teaching, revelation or remembrance of the word of God? Where else is the gospel of Jesus Christ found?

It is infinitely large. “I have seen a limit to all perfection, but your commandment is exceedingly broad” (v96). This really is the only proper conclusion to the above facts. The Psalmist, looks back on what he has just written, and compares the word of God to everything else. You can’t go any deeper or further than this comparison. The word of God vs. everything else conceivable. Here’s the result. Even that which is ‘perfect’, in the world, in the universe, in the lives of mankind – it has a limit. But your commandment is exceedingly broad. Everything you can conceive of in the universe, even that which is ‘perfect’ has a limit, in comparison to the boundless and all surpassing greatness of the word of God. Let that sink in for just a moment. That. changes. everything. Re-evaluate that little black or brown book sitting on the table over there. It contains the most valuable, eternal, faithful, saving and inconceivably massive entity or message in the entire universe. And you have it sitting right there, translated in your own language. What are you going to do when you get up from this computer? 

Heavenly Father, my view of your word is so small. I treat it so insignificantly, as just a part of my day, often not at all in my day. Please forgive me, and teach me now by your word presented, in part, here. Thank you that your word is eternal. Thank you that your word is faithful. Thank you that your word upholds the world, my breath, my future and my past. Thank you that your word is my salvation. Father, help me to say with the Psalmist that your word is my delight, that I might, with him declare that everything else I can conceive of in comparison is limited – but your commandments are boundless beyond comprehension. I ask then father, that you make the study of your word my delight, my food, my daily bread. Send my eyes and thought and tongue constantly back to your word and constantly singing its praises to all the world. I pray this that the eternal Word, Jesus Christ, might be glorified through me. Amen.

Asking myself why I am so blind and dumb to miss the best thing in all the universe,

Matt.

Psalm 119:81-88

⁸¹My soul longs for your salvation;
   I hope in your word.
⁸²My eyes long for your promise;
   I ask, “When will you comfort me?”
⁸³For I have become like a wineskin in the smoke,
   yet I have not forgotten your statutes.
⁸⁴ How long must your servant endure?
    When will you judge those who persecute me?
⁸⁵ The insolent have dug pitfalls for me;
   they do not live according to your law.
⁸⁶All your commandments are sure;
   they persecute me with falsehood; help me!
⁸⁷They have almost made an end of me on earth,
   but I have not forsaken your precepts.
⁸⁸In your steadfast love give me life,
   that I may keep the testimonies of your mouth.

I thought it would be good to return to Psalm 119 for a few posts – I should have thought it would be  ’fantastic’ to return, for this passage is simply awesome.

You’ve heard the saying, “When the going gets tough, the tough get going” – I want to change it to, “When the going gets tough, the tough get praying”. We read here in this passage, a desperate prayer of deep trust. That sounds a little contradictory, but it is not. The Psalmist is clearly in the midst of some serious suffering, “They persecute me with falsehood; help me! They have almost made an end of me on earth…”  (v86-87) – thus, the desperation. But it is a desperate prayer flowing out of a deep seated trust in his God, for he always sets his suffering within an immovable framework of trust in God. At every point he is pained, or at loss, or desperate – he falls back on God. Let me demonstrate what I mean by unpacking the verses;

^81“My soul longs for your salvation” - The Psalmist longs to be freed from his bondage to decay on earth – like a thirsty soul in a desert, he longs for the oasis of God’s life giving salvation. What do I do at these points in my life? Usually I grumble or complain, or lose my hope and joy. What does the Psalmist do? He places his suffering within an immovable framework of trust in God, and says, ”I hope in your word.” I turn to your promises, I hold on to your words. I turn my eyes from the devastation of life, to the unshakable foundation of your word.

^82″My eyes long for your promise;” - The Psalmist, having turned his eyes to the word of God and seen the promises within, now longs to see them with his eyes. I think his response to this longing is significant. He does not ask, “Why haven’t you brought it yet?”, or “Will you ever bring it God?”, or even, “What does this promise look like?” – I think he asks the most trusting question he could ask at this point, “I ask, “When will you comfort me?” It is a question that affirms his framework of trusting God, for he confesses it is God who will bring the comforting, and it is not a question of ‘if’, as though he doubts it is coming, but a question of ‘when’. He is crying out, “How long O’Lord, how long?” (Psalm 6:3). I am always led to ask ”will you comfort me”, inferring that I require the comfort now. But the Psalmist asks ”when will you comfort me” – and I take it he is willing to trust God and God’s timing.

^83″For I have become like a wineskin in the smoke” - I haven’t the foggiest idea what exactly it is like to be a wineskin in the smoke, but it certainly doesn’t sound like a good thing. What does the Psalmist do while he is in this horrible predicament? He does the last thing I usually do, ”yet I have not forgotten your statutes.”

⁸⁵ “The insolent have dug pitfalls for me; they do not live according to your law.” – The Psalmist looks around at the world, and all he can see are insolent people digging holes for the righteous – godless people who forget God and do not live according to his laws. This is exactly what I see. I read yet another depressing Sydney Morning Herald article this morning, bemoaning marriage and purity, and parading the triumph of same sex relationships and pre-marital sex. I wasn’t surprised or shocked about it – it’s just another pixel in the picture of this sinful depraved, and above all, godless man-fearing world. I just get angry. But the Psalmist does something very important at this point. After observing the godlessness of the world, who have abandoned God’s laws, he says, “All your commandments are sure“. They are solid. They are good. They are right. They are not grey or unknown. They are plain, they are sure, and I will uphold them in a godless world.

⁸⁷They have almost made an end of me on earth“  - the Psalmist is under some serious persecution here, much like a great deal of Christians today. He has almost been killed, perhaps even he fears death is soon. What does he do at this soul-crushing, anxious filled, deflating moment? Well, we know one resolution he has made - but I have not forsaken your precepts. That is amazing trust in God. That is what it looks like to place your suffering within a greater framework of trust in God. It is so clear, that he is willing to give up absolutely everything before he gives up obeying God. Are you?

Finally, and most breathtakingly, ^88″In your steadfast love give me life”  – The Psalmist, seeing that death could come at any moment, asks God to give him life – in line with his steadfast love. Is this perhaps a little selfish? Is this not perhaps a little to covetous of earthly things? Isn’t he willing to give up his life for eternity with God? Does this fit with the rest of the picture of this man? It sure does. For look at why he asks God to extend his life – it is for one reason only, “that I may keep the testimonies of your mouth.“

His one reason to keep on living, to keep on living his life of suffering and persecution…is so that he can obey God.

That makes God look glorious beyond all measure.

Will you resolve to be like the Psalmist today? Will you resolve to place your suffering, your persecution and all your life, within a greater framework of trusting your good and steadfast God?

Praying that we will,

Matt.
 

Romans 5:9-11

⁹Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. ¹⁰For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. ¹¹More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

We ended the last post with Paul’s doctrine of assurance, summed up by the wonderful v9. He now wraps up the section by giving us an assurance of why the assurance is assured (I assure you). We see him fleshing out v9 in v10, For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.

Here is Paul’s logic; If God sought to reconcile us, to bring us into friendship and peace (5:1), and sought this reconciliation to such an extant that he gave his Son in death – doing all this while we were his enemies, then, now that we are reconciled, and now that Christ is not dead but alive, shall we not much more be assuredly saved from the wrath of God? That was long winded, so I’ll try to condense; How could the wrath of God possibly fall on us - since it is we who were reconciled as enemies by the death of Christ, and are now at peace with him – as surely as Christ lives, how can we possibly not be saved?

One more time, even shorter now; If it were Christ’s blood that was shed for us, and that blood shed for enemies to make them friends with God – why would God do anything but welcome us home? The timing and nature of our salvation is the key to its assurance.

This is one the foundations of the doctrine of the perseverance of the saints. Once you are bought by the blood of Christ shed for enemies, you cannot be ‘unransomed’, or ‘unjustified’, or ‘unreconciled’. It is inconceivable, and evidently from Romans 5 (and especially Romans 8), it is un-biblical. So no, a Christian cannot fall away. And yes, Christian, you are going to heaven. Embrace the truth with joy.

Paul does, for he replies to this wonderful doctrine of perseverance with v11, More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

Those who are justified by faith and know they have peace with God (v1), who have obtained access by faith into grace (v2), who know that all things, even sufferings, lead to greater hope (v3-4), and into whose hearts the love of God has been poured out through the Holy Spirit (v5) – the love of God demonstrated in Christ’s death on the cross for sinners while they were sinners (v6-8), who know therefore that they have been justified by that blood of love and have complete salvation from the wrath of God (v9), and know the certainty of this assurance rooted in the nature and timing of this salvation (v10) – how could these people, and Christian this is you - how could these people be held back from always rejoicing in God through our Lord Jesus Christ? How is that conceivable? It is endlessly absurd to the extreme!

To think that one of these people could be held back from rejoicing in God!? That would be a contradiction, it would be an illogicality, an unacceptable response – it would be foolishness – it would have to come from such sinful motives, it would be completely unjustifiable, an outrage! No wonder Paul says in Philippians 4, Rejoice in the Lord always, again, rejoice in the Lord. It would never be right for them to choose anything other than rejoicing in their God through their Lord Jesus Christ. Never.

And yet…and yet, dear Christian – do we not find a thousand ways, a thousand justifications, a thousand reasons not to rejoice in God? 

There is not a Job in Sydney, dare I say this whole nation, who, once God had taken everything from him, every joy and comfort and luxury and health and happiness from his life - still rejoiced and blessed the name of his God. I am living proof of that. Just take one thing from me and, *click*, any hint of joy in God is gone.

Resolve now to rejoice. Repent of your joy-lessness in God, for it flows out of nothing but worldliness and sin. And return to your reconciler, your redeemer with a life of praise and worship today.

Heavenly Father, how can we your redeemed people, your reconciled by the blood of Christ people, not rejoice in you through Christ? And yet Father, we grumble and complain, rejoice in worldly things, and forget you always. We do not live lives marked by joy in you. Our joy is bound up in so many things other than you. We confess them now______, and ask for forgiveness. Help us to dwell on the truths of Romans 5, that we might evermore live to your praise and glory, always full of joy despite the circumstances, despite the pain, despite the loss - transform us we ask, that by the power of the Spirit, we might live radically glorify lives that clearly demonstrate that you are our joy, reward, prize, delight and all encompassing love. We pray this in the precious name of Christ our Saviour. Amen.

Rebuked,

Matt. 

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