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[Discussion Questions] [Solid Ground-Home]
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ReviewSpin up:
This chapter we shift the focus from Justification
to Sanctification.
ESV Romans 5:18 Therefore, as one trespass
led to condemnation for all men, so one act of
righteousness leads to justification and life
for all men. 19 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. 20 Now the law came
in to increase the trespass, but where sin
increased, grace abounded all the more, 21 so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also
might reign through righteousness leading to
eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. 6:1 What shall we say then? Are
we to continue in sin that grace may abound? 2a By no means!
We talked a lot about Adam and Jesus as the
“second Adam” last week. Here Paul brings us back to the important
question. If
grace is at its most brilliant when sin is
increased… why not keep sinning to make grace
even greater!?
The point being demonstrated here is not that the
more we sin, the better God’s grace, but the
more we see the sin we already have… the
greater our understanding of God’s grace. God’s Law brings knowledge of sin,
increasing our awareness of it… not that it makes us go out and sin
more… by
no means!
Sanctification—“According to the Westminster
Shorter Catechism (Q. 35) sanctification is
‘the work
of God’s free grace, whereby we are
renewed in the whole man after the image of God,
and are enable more and more to die unto sin,
and live unto righteousness.’ It is a
continuing change worked by God in us, freeing
us from sinful habits and forming in us
Christlike affections, disposition, and virtues. It does not mean that sin is instantly
eradicated, …” [Reformation Study Bible, p. 1650—emphasis
added]
ESV Romans 6:2b How can we who died to sin
still live in it? 3 Do you not know
that all of us who have been baptized into
Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 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.
Baptism—“… has the form of a ceremonial
washing… is a sign from God that signifies
inward cleansing and remission of sins. Spirit-wrought regeneration and new life,
and the abiding presense of the Holy Spirit as
God’s seal…” [Reformation Study Bible, p.
1650—emphasis added]
Here
Paul isn’t commanding or prescribing baptism,
but he is describing its significance. Following the “by no means” question,
he now turns to describing how absurd the idea
of wanting to continue in sin really is.
“…
walk in newness of life” –no longer just
talking about what God has done (Justification),
but what he continues to do in believers
(Sanctification). He’ll go on to use death and slavery
analogies to illustrate this.
ESV Romans 6:5 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. 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. 7 For one who has
died has been set free from sin. 8 Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that
we will also live with him. 9 We know
that Christ being raised from the dead will
never die again; death no longer has dominion
over him. 10 For the death he died he
died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives
he lives to God. 11 So you also must
consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God
in Christ Jesus. 12 Let not sin
therefore reign in your mortal bodies, to make
you obey their 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. 14 For sin will have
no dominion over you, since you are not under
law but under grace.
How
to think about it:
“So you also must consider yourselves dead to
sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus” … “For sin will have no dominion over you…”
What
to do:
Are
you ready for some Déjà vu? In biblical times, repetition was used
for emphasis…
here we go:
ESV Romans 6:15 What then? Are we to sin
because we are not under law but under grace? By
no means! 16 Do you not know that if
you present yourselves to anyone as obedient
slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey,
either of sin, which leads to death, or of
obedience, which leads to righteousness? 17 But thanks be to God, that you who were once
slaves of sin have become obedient from the
heart to the standard of teaching to which you
were committed, 18 and, having been
set free from sin, have become slaves of
righteousness. 19 I am speaking in
human terms, because of your natural
limitations. For just as you once presented your
members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness
leading to more lawlessness, so now present your
members as slaves to righteousness leading to
sanctification. 20 When you were
slaves of sin, you were free in regard to
righteousness. 21 But what fruit were
you getting at that time from the things of
which you are now ashamed? The end of those
things is death. 22 But now that you
have been set free from sin and have become
slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to
sanctification and its end, eternal life. 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift
of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
He
re-emphasizes the point… just because our
salvation is not based on our performance (law),
but God’s (grace), is not a license to sin. On the contrary, it is a license not to sin (freedom).
“Speaking
in human terms” – Paul knows his analogy is
limited. It
is difficult to speak of something as radical
and transcendent as the work of God in salvation
in human terms.
Key
verse, notice the contrasts:
For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in
Christ Jesus our Lord.
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