|
Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness. (Romans 6:18) |
|
Now, how have we been set free from sin? How have we become slaves of righteousness? |
|
I think I am correct in stating that ordinarily expressions in the New Testament concerning freedom from sin are viewed as freedom from the guilt of sin. But if we are comparing slavery to sin and slavery to righteousness it is clear we are not speaking of the guilt of sin and imputed righteousness because then the term slavery would not be appropriate. |
|
We are not saying we are free from sin because God no longer counts our sinful behavior as sinful. If this were true, then the man committing incest in Corinth would have been in no real trouble. Paul would have said, "Comfort the brother. Although his actions have been sinful in our sight please remember that he is without guilt in the sight of God. He has been set free from the guilt of sin. God sees him only through Jesus Christ, therefore the incest, while it might seem unclean to us, is seen by God as the moral purity of Jesus Christ. Remember, through Christ the guilt of sin cannot be imputed to him. Do not judge lest you be judged!" (This is the kind of nonsense we hear today.) |
|
God commanded us in Corinthians to judge ourselves, saying if we do not judge ourselves God will judge us. This would make no sense if the freedom from sin of Romans 6:18 were referring to the fact that God does not judge our sinful behavior as sinful. |
|
Then we come to the expression, "slaves of righteousness." Would this be an appropriate expression if the reference were to imputed righteousness? Would an individual to whom righteousness was imputed be correctly addressed as "a slave of righteousness"? |
|
Also, in light of the entire context of the sixth chapter of the Book of Romans, to suddenly switch from a discussion of actually yielding to sinful or righteous behavior to a legal freedom from sin and an imputed righteousness would not be at all logical. |
|
So by all principles of reasonable Biblical interpretation we must conclude that Paul is referring to an actual deliverance from sin and an actual slavery to the righteous behavior that comprises the eternal moral law of God. |
|
But how are we set free from sin? By obeying with the Spirit's help the numerous passages of the New Testament that serve as guidelines for our behavior. This we must do while Christ, the Righteous One, is being formed in us. |
|
We don't have to worry about Moses any longer. We have died to that Law. Now we are forgiven through the blood of Jesus and are obeying the Spirit as He leads us to put to death the passions and lusts of our flesh and to lay hold on eternal life. |
|
The negative side of redemption is freedom from the law of sin and death, that is, from the interaction between our sinful flesh and the commandments of the Law of Moses. The positive side of redemption is slavery to righteousness, that is, continual growth in the righteous behavior that always flows from the eternal resurrection Life of Jesus Christ. |
|
The only means of entering the eternal resurrection Life of Christ is careful observance of the commandments of Christ and His Apostles. |
|
But thou, O man of God, flee these things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness. Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses. (I Timothy 6:11) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
I speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your flesh: for as ye have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity; even so now yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness. (Romans 6:19) |
|
You may remember that our purpose in setting forth the present discussion of the sixth chapter of Romans is to point out the error of the current Evangelical position. The current position is that since we have been crucified with Christ and our sin has been judged on the cross we need not be anxious about our behavior. We shall never hear anything negative at the Judgment Seat of Christ because our sins were judged and done away on the cross. |
|
However, this interpretation is by no means a satisfying conclusion from the study of the sixth chapter of Romans. |
|
If the present position is a correct interpretation, where would one place Romans 6:19 (above)? |
|
Before we were Christians we were the slaves of ever-increasing lawlessness and wickedness. Now we are to present ourselves as slaves of righteousness righteousness that leads to holiness. Apart from holiness no person shall ever see the Lord! |
|
We could reason that while this is true, and we ought to be righteous in order to please God, even if we don't present ourselves as slaves of righteousness it remains true we are without condemnation because our sins were judged and removed on the cross. |
|
This in fact is the current position. We are saved by an incorruptible grace that cannot possibly be affected by our behavior. |
|
However, the sixth chapter of Romans does not at all accept this reasoning. The sixth chapter of Romans states that if we choose to not become the slave of righteousness and continue to present the members of our body as the slave of wickedness we will die spiritually. This conclusion is repeated in Romans 8:13. |
|
The interpretation stating that even though we do not do what the Apostle commanded we will suffer no truly fatal consequences is nothing more nor less than Satan saying once again, "You shall not surely die." |
|
The Evangelical position that we shall not surely die even though we do not choose to present our members as the slave of righteousness has destroyed the moral character of the majority of believers. The light has gone out. The secular realm is in darkness because only Christ in the Church is the Light of the world. |
|
It is time for those who are willing to accept the teaching of Paul, in the sixth chapter of Romans, to proclaim to everyone who will listen that we have a generation of deceived Christians. God is not pleased! Destruction will follow in the near future if there is not a wholesale turning to God in the United States of America. |
|
If you have a small child you may notice evidences of unusual spiritual insight. |
|
Your four or five-year-old may astonish you with talk about the Kingdom or about Jesus that you would expect from older young people. This is because our generation has failed God in the area of righteous behavior and God is turning to the next generation. |
|
The best we can do now is to serve as a Joshua or Caleb and train up the child in the righteous ways of the Lord. It is time for the new generation to cross over the Jordan, so to speak, and begin to take the land for God. |
|
Future leaders are being born and this is why Satan is so anxious to have the babies aborted and to promote the barren practice of homosexuality. We see Satan trying to destroy children at the time of the birth of the baby Moses and also the baby Jesus. |
|
If we adults will turn to the Lord we will raise up the generation of which it is prophesied they will praise the Lord. But if we do not we and our children may be vaporized in atomic war and God will wait for yet another generation. |
|
God shall have people who will take the Kingdom no matter how long He has to wait. |
|
How about you? Do you want to argue doctrine or get busy and start living in righteousness and holiness? If you will turn to the Lord now, today, you will save yourself and those who hear you. But if you do not, you and those depending on you are facing rough sledding in the future. |
|
And the "rapture" may be too late to spare you and your household just as it has been too late to save the thousands of Christians in other countries being tortured and murdered on the day you read this essay. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
For when ye were the servants of sin, ye were free from righteousness. What fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed? for the end of those things is death. (Romans 6:20,21) |
|
We are in bondage either to sin or to righteousness. According to the Apostle Paul we are to be the slave of one or the other. |
|
When we are the slave of sin we are not in bondage to righteousness. When we are the slave of righteousness we are not in bondage to sin. |
|
What fruit was borne while we were the slave of sin? The fruit consisted of hatred, misery, discontent, impatience, harshness, abominable behavior, treachery, stubbornness, and lack of self-control. We did all kinds of things that hurt other people as well as ourselves. We are ashamed of our past life. |
|
The implication is that now that we are a Christian we no longer behave this way. Yet one can easily find this sort of attitude and conduct in numerous Christian churches. We are no different from the world in many instances. Why? Because the sixth chapter of Romans has not been preached correctly. |
|
The inference from Paul's teaching here is that we don't behave this way any longer. The stress is not on grace or imputed righteousness but on righteous, holy personality and behavior. This is what salvation produces and in fact is. |
|
We can tell who is living in the Spirit and who is not by his or her conduct. |
|
Around the 1930s major Pentecostal organizations determined that speaking in tongues is the only evidence of the baptism with the Holy Spirit. This was an unfortunate position and needlessly alienated the Christian Missionary Alliance denomination. |
|
Your writer speaks in tongues more than most people and has for several decades. But the evidence of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, gentleness, goodness, faithfulness, meekness, and self-control. Numerous people who have spoken in tongues at some point do not reveal the Holy Spirit in their behavior. Though they have spoken in tongues and may yet speak in tongues their behavior reveals they are not filled with God's Spirit. |
|
The end result of hatred, misery, impatience, treachery, abominable behavior, and so forth is death separation from God. This is true whether or not the individual makes a profession of faith in Jesus Christ. |
|
This does not mean that a believer who sees these things in his or her personality has been cast off by the Lord. But it indeed does mean he is to follow the Spirit diligently until the fruit of the Spirit is in evidence rather than the works of the flesh. |
|
The correct understanding of the grace of Christ is that it is the means of bringing us to the place where we are bearing the fruit of godliness. The incorrect understanding of grace, the prevailing understanding, is that grace is a new way in which God relates to man. Grace thus becomes an alternative to moral transformation. The bypass has become the main highway. |
|
The death spoken of here is separation from God. God will have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness whether found in a Christian or an unbeliever. This is the message of the Kingdom of God that is to be proclaimed in the days in which we are living. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life. For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. (Romans 6:22,23) |
|
How wonderful to be "free from sin." Complete freedom from sin does not take place instantly no matter what anyone says. It is line upon line and commandment upon commandment. |
|
When God led the Israelites in the invasion of Canaan He did not give them all the cities at once. If He had done so the farms would have been ruined from neglect and the wild animals would have become threatening. |
|
Instead the Lord gave them the cities one at a time. In the meanwhile the Philistines kept the farms going and the animals under control. |
|
So it is with us. The Lord does not give us our whole personality in one stroke. He gives us victory over a small area. In the meanwhile our carnal nature keeps us going. |
|
If the Lord were to drive all the worldliness, sin, and self-seeking out of us in one dramatic deliverance we would be an empty personality. Christ would not be formed in us. Soon the demons would return multiplied in number. |
|
Instead the program is a small deliverance, and then Christ formed in the conquered territory. Another small deliverance, and then Christ formed in the conquered territory. Another small deliverance, and then Christ formed in the conquered territory. |
|
We go from grace to grace, faith to faith, glory to glory. We see the Glory of the Lord dimly as in a clouded mirror, and as we see the Lord we are changed into the same image by the Spirit of the Lord. This is how the new covenant operates. |
|
Now we are not just free to do as we please, as some suppose, but are slaves of God. The end result of slavery to God is holiness. The end result of holiness is everlasting life. |
|
Did you notice that? Eternal life is the end result of holiness! |
|
If a Christian continues in sin he dies. If a Christian grows in holiness he gains eternal life. |
|
I am not saying we are saved by works. I am saying that righteous, holy works are the result of and the only proof of salvation. We don't do righteous works in order to get saved. We get saved in order to do righteous works. |
|
For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them. (Ephesians 2:10) |
|
The wages the Christian receives for continuing in sin is spiritual death. The gift of God is forgiveness and then the power to grow in righteous, holy behavior through Jesus Christ. It is the holy behavior that results in eternal life. |
|
Thus we see that the true grace of God is the opportunity to attain eternal life through Christ. |
|
Every day the battle is joined. Every day, spiritual death and spiritual life fight for control of our personality. We decide which spirit is victorious. We can give the victory to spiritual death or to eternal life in Christ. |
|
The power is there. It is something like power steering in a large truck. The wheels do not change direction until you make a decision and your hand begins to turn the steering wheel. The moment that decision is made the power steering mechanism takes over and the big wheels turn in the direction you want. But nothing happens until you choose one direction or the other. |
|
The power is there waiting for you. Why don't you choose to be the slave of righteousness and live? |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. (I John 2:4) |
|
1. The Lord God of Heaven shall be the first love of our heart, the first thought of our mind, the first priority of our devotion and energies. |
|
2. We will not worship or be in bondage to any thing, relationship, or circumstance. We will serve Christ alone and God through Him. |
|
3. We will use the name of Christ and of God only in the utmost sincerity never loosely or to support our lie. We will not attempt to deceive others or ourselves by presenting our word and will as though they were God's word and will. We will keep the name of God holy in our heart and mouth. |
|
4. We will not spend our life creating our own heaven and earth but will cease from our own works and enter God's rest, recognizing that all has been finished from the creation of the world. The Lord and His works shall be our continual delight. We will not seek our own pleasure or speak our own words but will seek the Lord's pleasure and speak His words. Our goal in life will be to find God's will and perform it. Our necessary food will be to finish the work God has given us to do, laying aside all concern for our own security, our own pleasure, and our own achievement. |
|
5. We will honor our father and mother and all others who have been used of God to give us life, to nourish and guide us, and to bring us to maturity in Christ. We will respect authority. |
|
6. We will not permit hatred or anger toward another person to abide in our heart but will commit our need for justice to the Lord. We will not strive to harm or remove those who are hindering us but will present our situation to the Lord for His wisdom. |
|
7. We will not indulge in unlawful passions, in filthy imaginations, romantic lusts, in relationships God has not ordained. |
|
8. We will not take what belongs to another person or seek to get what we want apart from God. We will never deprive another person in order to gain joy for ourselves. |
|
9. We will not bear a false witness against another person, gossiping, criticizing, putting him or her in a bad light for our own advantage. |
|
10. We will not desire for ourselves that which belongs to another. We will forsake envy, competitiveness, jealousy, personal ambition, self-importance. |
|
The eternal law of the Lord God of Heaven never changes. It has existed from eons past. It abides today and will endure throughout the eons yet to come. It never shall change or pass away. |
|
The eternal law of God is the expression of God's moral Nature. The changing of one particle of God's moral Nature would be the worst of all possible catastrophes. |
|
The eternal law was given to Moses to pass on to Israel, and through Israel to all mankind. At that time its expression was somewhat hindered because of the limitations of our flesh. Now that we have been born again of Christ, and the Spirit of God is dwelling in us, we can begin to respond to the fullest implications of this holy law. (from It Is Time for a Reformation of Christian Thinking) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. (John 3:14-17) |
|
Eternal life is one of the principal topics of the New Testament writings and is synonymous with salvation under the new covenant. Material prosperity in the world is emphasized in the Old Testament but eternal life is the blessing of the New Testament. |
|
Adam and Eve were driven from the garden of Eden so they would not be able to "take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever." They were denied eternal life because they had not kept the commandment of the Lord. |
|
Now, through Christ, we have received grace whereby we are enabled to keep the commandments of God. As we keep the commandments of God we have the authority to partake of the tree of life, gaining the power to live forever. |
|
We understand that to have eternal life is to live, move, and have our being in the Presence of God in spirit, in soul, and in body. |
|
Knowing the only true God and Christ is not just knowing about God and Christ but having close fellowship with them. |
|
We understand also that Jesus Himself is eternal life. |
|
We can have eternal life now. |
|
When we receive Christ by faith, we receive eternal life into our inner man. We pass from death to life. At the same time, our new born-again life ascends into the heavenlies, being hidden with Christ in God. |
|
Our physical body is dead because of the sin that dwells in it. |
|
Our mortal body, along with the remainder of the material creation, is dead because of the consequences of sin. It lives by means of food. It lasts a relatively brief time and then, like a flower, withers and dies. It does not have access to eternal life with which it could renew itself. The Divine curse has filled the creation with corruption and death. |
|
In Christ we have eternal life in the spiritual aspect of our personality but death works in the members of our physical body. |
|
However, the promise of redemption is that eternal life will enter our physical body. |
|
But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken [make alive] your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you. (Romans 8:11) |
|
Paul looked forward to the redeeming, the making eternally alive of his physical body. |
|
And not only they [the entire material creation], but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body. (Romans 8:23) |
|
There has crept into Christian thinking the concept that everlasting life is primarily for the spirit of man. We would suggest that John 3:16 is speaking rather of the body of man. It is referring to our body perishing our body being our contact with the earth. It is our body that perishes, not our spirit. |
|
In addition to its spiritual counterpart, the resurrection of the Lord Jesus was distinctly physical. |
|
Physical death is the one thing that brings to an end our hopes and dreams. What if you could live forever in total love, joy, and peace? Would you like that? |
|
Join the group. (from Eternal Life) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John: (Revelation 1:1) |
|
The Book of Revelation is unique in at least two ways. First of all it is presented as a direct revelation of God to Christ. |
|
Although every book of the Scriptures is inspired of God and is to be received as the Word of God, none except Revelation is presented as a direct vision of God given to Christ. For this reason the Book of Revelation is to be regarded by every member of the Body of Christ as being absolutely binding upon all that will transpire in the universe. |
|
The second element of uniqueness is the curse that has been issued concerning changing the text of the Book of Revelation. |
|
In the day in which we are living, every truth by which men guide their behavior is being challenged. One is considered to be sophisticated if he views with disdain any attempt to maintain a standard of behavior. Included in the disregard of moral law is the concept that man's pleasures and desires are the most important aspect of the universe. |
|
The visions of Revelation cut to the heart of such man-centeredness. God tells us what will take place that which cannot be changed by any authority or power in the heavens, on the earth, or in the regions of spiritual darkness under the surface of the earth. |
|
What Revelation states will happen will indeed take place. Not one word is to be changed. He who tampers with the text in any manner will suffer the severest of penalties. |
|
These are events that "must shortly come to pass." They will take place in certainty, in fullness precisely as written. |
|
Before the heavens and the earth were created God saw in His mind the new heaven and earth, and the new Jerusalem. When God created the first heaven and earth, and all of earth's inhabitants, including man, God knew every event that must transpire before it would be possible for Him to bring forth the actual heaven and earth that He had in mind, and a government that would bring righteousness, peace, and joy to the inhabitants. After all had been created in timeless vision, God rested. Our sole business in life is to enter that rest, into that finished work of the Lord God and His Christ. |
|
Each human being is occupied with creating heaven and earth, and sometimes the government, according to his own desires, fashioning himself and his destiny as he sees fit. But God invites us to enter His rest, into the heaven and earth and the government He has chosen. Also, God knows what we are to become in personality and what our destiny, our role, is to be. All that God asks is that we cease from our own works and receive the heaven and earth, and the personality and role, He has chosen for us. |
|
This is not to say we are to enter a state of passivity and lumber around like a robot. But it does mean we are to quit beating our head against the wall and find out what God wants us to do. (from The Eternal Purpose of God) |
|
If you can't get God to go your way why don't you try going God's way? |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
