Romans 6: 15 - 23

15 What then? Shall we sin because we are not under the law but under grace? By no means! ¹⁶ Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one you obey – whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness? ¹⁷ But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you have come to obey from your heart the pattern of teaching that has now claimed your allegiance. ¹⁸ You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness.

¹⁹ I am using an example from everyday life because of your human limitations. Just as you used to offer yourselves as slaves to impurity and to ever-increasing wickedness, so now offer yourselves as slaves to righteousness leading to holiness. ²⁰ When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the control of righteousness. ²¹ What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things result in death! ²² But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. ²³ For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Choose Your Master.

In today’s reading, Paul is really continuing the point that he made in the opening verses of the chapter, which we looked at yesterday. Again, in verse 15, he asks the question of whether we now have an ‘excuse’ to sin. But whereas in verse 1 the logic of such a position was that ‘the more we sin, the more grace we receive’, this time the premise is that we are no longer under the Law of Moses, but under grace – so if we are not under the law, we can easily break the law! And once again, Paul explains why that is a completely incorrect position to reach. ‘By no means!’ he says.

In this section, Paul is expanding on the idea of being ‘slaves’ – either slaves to sin or slaves to righteousness. Verses 17 and 18: ‘But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you have come to obey from your heart the pattern of teaching that has now claimed your allegiance. You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness.’

Although Paul shows this as a choice between two masters, they are very different. Slaves to sin are in servitude – they can’t help but obey the evil desires of sin. They get deeper and deeper into ‘impurity and ever-increasing wickedness’ (v. 19). Slaves to sin feel shame; they are sentenced to hard labour and they die in service – three times Paul says that being a slave sin leads to death (verses 16, 21 and 23).

By comparison, this is what it is like to be a slave of God, or of righteousness: We are free from the control of the old slave master (v. 18)! As we have seen recently in Gal. 5: 1, ‘It is for freedom that Christ has set us free.’ We are now free to live a holy life, and see our characters transformed (verses 18 and 19). We reap great benefits and fruit in our lives. As slaves of God we have very generous treatment – not wages, but a free gift of eternal life in Christ (v. 23). And being slaves of God means we no longer face death from being slaves of sin, but now receive life – it is life to the full, and it is eternal life. So being a ‘slave’ of God is nothing like our idea of slavery – rather, it is being children of God!

Verse 23 is often quoted in an evangelistic sense: ‘For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.’ It certainly makes clear the big difference between these two masters. If you choose sin, then you are choosing death. But if you choose God, then you are choosing life!

 

Prayer

Heavenly Father, we thank you for the amazing gift of life! I thank you that through Christ I have been freed from slavery to sin and death. Lord, I willingly change my allegiance and come into your service – no longer bound or chained in slavery, but now truly free. Amen.

Romans 6: 1 - 14

1 What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning, so that grace may increase? ² By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? ³ Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptised into Christ Jesus were baptised into his death? ⁴ We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.

⁵ For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his. ⁶ For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin – ⁷ because anyone who has died has been set free from sin.

⁸ Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. ⁹ For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. ¹⁰ The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God.

¹¹ In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. ¹² Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. ¹³ Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness. ¹⁴ For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace.

Dead to Sin, Alive in Christ!

At the end of yesterday’s reading, in Rom. 5: 20, Paul wrote that the Law caused sin to increase, which in turn caused God’s grace to increase. It might sound a strange argument to our ears, but he is saying that once the Law of Moses was introduced, there was then a law for people to break, and thereby be guilty of sin! And because God forgives sin by his grace, if there is more sin, then there is more grace!

So in verse 1 of today’s reading, Paul turns things around, and re-visits a question that came up in Rom. 3: 8. ‘The more I sin, the more God forgives me, and the more grace I receive. So I should sin more!’ This is a serious case of twisting the truth, and Paul objects greatly to it. I wonder whether anyone actually said this, or whether Paul’s logical mind had realised that this was a potential mis-reading of what he had just been saying, and therefore feels the need to address it. Clearly it is nonsense to suggest that we should sin more in order to receive more grace from God.

So, for the rest of this passage, Paul is explaining why, as Christians, we should resist sin. When we put our trust in Jesus and came to him as our Saviour, choosing to follow him, we were forgiven for our sins. It was like our old sinful nature had been put to death, nailed to the cross with Jesus. It was buried, and just as Jesus rose from the grave, so we have risen to a new life. And as Christian people today we should live in that new life – a life in which our aim is to go Jesus’ way, following his teaching and being obedient to him. And although, as humans, the sinful nature is still within us, we should live recognising that it has been put to death, and no longer has any control over us. Verses 6 and 7 make the point clearly: ‘For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin – because anyone who has died has been set free from sin.’

We are free from sin – and as we live for Jesus, filled with the Holy Spirit, we should remember that. Sadly, there are people who have never met Jesus, who are slaves to sin and addiction. And sadder still, there are some who have met Jesus, and who slip back into being slaves to sin and addiction again. Paul writes that ‘we should no longer be slaves to sin’ and by the power of the Holy Spirit, those chains of slavery can be broken. If you are struggling in this way, please seek help and prayer for your situation. I would willingly spend time with you and help you to come to Christ to be set free!

 

Prayer

Dear Lord Jesus, as your follower I love you and want to always go your way. Please fill me with the Holy Spirit and strengthen me to choose your way, which is the way of life, rather than the way of my old sinful nature, which is the way of death. Amen.

Romans 5: 12 - 21

12 Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned –

¹³ To be sure, sin was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not charged against anyone’s account where there is no law. ¹⁴ Nevertheless, death reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even over those who did not sin by breaking a command, as did Adam, who is a pattern of the one to come.

¹⁵ But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God’s grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many! ¹⁶ Nor can the gift of God be compared with the result of one man’s sin: the judgment followed one sin and brought condemnation, but the gift followed many trespasses and brought justification. ¹⁷ For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ!

¹⁸ Consequently, just as one trespass resulted in condemnation for all people, so also one righteous act resulted in justification and life for all people. ¹⁹ For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous.

²⁰ The law was brought in so that the trespass might increase. But where sin increased, grace increased all the more, ²¹ so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Eternal Life Through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Like yesterday, another ‘therefore’ begins today’s reading. Paul has been talking about how we are all sinners, and in the first part of chapter 5 he wrote about how we are justified through the blood of Christ, and saved from the wrath of God. Today’s ‘therefore’ is to link the sin that he has been talking about (and how it came about) and the salvation we have though one man, Jesus Christ.

In this passage Paul does something that we occasionally see in his letters – he interrupts himself to explain a bit more about the point he is about to make. Verses 13 to 17 are really all in parentheses. Verse 12 begins with an unfinished ‘therefore…’ and his argument continues in verse 18.

Verses 13 to 17 are about the fact that sin entered the world through one man – Adam. And Paul is talking about how it was that people were sinners, even before there was the Law of Moses to break. This is another one of those things that made sense to Paul and his original readers, but is a bit outside our cultural understanding. In fact Paul is speaking from his Pharisee background here. The Pharisees viewed ‘sin’ as what happens when you break the commandments and laws of the Torah. You and I tend not to use that definition of ‘sin’ because we have been brought up with the Ten Commandments and their interpretation in the Sermon on the Mount. But Paul is explaining that even though there was no Law for people to break between the time of Adam and Moses, death still reigned (v. 14).

Adam was disobedient to God, and through his disobedience he brought sin into the world. Jesus, on the other hand, was obedient to God, and through his obedience he brought justification, life and righteousness into the world! (v. 18 - 19) Paul is arguing that just as the actions of one man brought death, so the actions of another man reversed it and brought life!

Verse 21 says, ‘Just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.’ That verse reminds us of where we have come from and where we are now. Before we knew Jesus as our Lord and Saviour, we were caught in sin and death. But now, through Jesus, we have received the grace of God. And we have received his righteousness and the wonderful gift of eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord!

We shouldn’t get so caught up with some of the difficult arguments that Paul uses in Romans that we forget the central message, which is that God loves us so much and he puts that love into action (grace) by saving us from sin and death, and giving us the gift of life!

 

Prayer

Father God, we praise you for rescuing us from sin and death. Thank you that when Jesus came he reversed the sin of Adam, and brought us the gift of life! Help us know it, believe it and share it! Amen.

Romans 5: 1 - 11

1 Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, ² through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. ³ Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; ⁴ perseverance, character; and character, hope. ⁵ And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.

⁶ You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. ⁷ Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. ⁸ But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

⁹ Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! ¹⁰ For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! ¹¹ Not only is this so, but we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

Justified Through Faith.

‘Therefore…’ is one of Paul’s favourite words in his letters. He sets out an argument, and having established his premise, he now says, ‘having proved all that, this is what follows!’ The first four chapters of Romans have been explaining the seriousness of sin and that we are all sinners – Jews and Gentiles alike. But we can be saved and forgiven for our sins by the grace of God, received through faith. It’s not about our works – rather, like Abraham believed, and it was ‘credited to him as righteousness’, so we also receive God’s righteousness through believing. Therefore… (v. 1), having been justified through faith, we now have peace with God, through Christ!

How do you feel about suffering? It is not anyone’s first choice in normal life, but those who suffer for their faith don’t have a choice. And if it comes, we glory in our sufferings, difficult though it is to imagine. And ‘suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope,’ (v. 3 - 4). At this time we need hope more than ever. I pray that our sufferings will not be severe, but that through it all we will develop perseverance, character and hope.

Who did Christ die for? The ungodly (v. 6). When did he die? At just the right time, when we were still powerless. Verse 8 is a well-known and well-loved verse that sums this up: ‘But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.’ He didn’t wait for us to get everything together, all sorted, all our behaviour and attitudes correct before he died for us. No, he died for sinners, when we were still sinners! Sometimes churches expect people to change first before they meet Jesus – if they do that they are getting it completely the wrong way round!

Verse 9 reminds us of the wrath of God (a topic too often forgotten or glossed over). Paul says that we have been justified by the blood of Christ – this means we have been declared innocent because of Jesus death on the cross. And because of that we are also saved from God’s wrath through Jesus. God has no punishment waiting for us because of our sins – we are forgiven, cleansed, made right and rescued from the consequences of our sin. Jesus has paid the price for our sins, averting the wrath of God from us. Hallelujah!

Romans 5 is like what happens when you climb a difficult hill and reach the brow where suddenly you can see a magnificent view stretched out ahead of you. Chapters 1 to 4 were about sin, and they were quite hard work. But now we get to chapter 5, we understand that the climb was worth it!

 

Prayer

Lord Jesus, I thank you that while I was still a sinner, you died for me! And I thank you that through your death and the shedding of your blood I am justified and reconciled to God! Help me live like I believe it, and help me to share this Good News with other people. Amen.

Romans 4: 13 - 25

13 It was not through the law that Abraham and his offspring received the promise that he would be heir of the world, but through the righteousness that comes by faith. ¹⁴ For if those who depend on the law are heirs, faith means nothing and the promise is worthless, ¹⁵ because the law brings wrath. And where there is no law there is no transgression.

¹⁶ Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may be by grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham’s offspring – not only to those who are of the law but also to those who have the faith of Abraham. He is the father of us all. ¹⁷ As it is written: ‘I have made you a father of many nations.’ He is our father in the sight of God, in whom he believed – the God who gives life to the dead and calls into being things that were not.

¹⁸ Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, ‘So shall your offspring be.’ ¹⁹ Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead – since he was about a hundred years old – and that Sarah’s womb was also dead. ²⁰ Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, ²¹ being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised. ²² This is why ‘it was credited to him as righteousness.’ ²³ The words ‘it was credited to him’ were written not for him alone, ²⁴ but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness – for us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. ²⁵ He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.

Patience and Trust in God’s Promises.

In Genesis 15, Abram was given an amazing promise – and I commented on it yesterday. God promised him that his offspring would be as uncountable as the stars in the sky. But at the time when God made this promise Abram and Sarai had no children, and they were getting on in age. They were in their seventies, and they were regarded as childless and too old for that to change. But God had made a promise, and they believed him. Abram believed, and because of his belief, God ‘credited it to him as righteousness.’

They received the promise, and then they waited for it to be fulfilled. And they waited. And they waited. At the beginning of Genesis 15, Abram was already saying to God that the person who would inherit his estate would be his servant, Eliezer of Damascus. But God corrected him and assured him that his heir would come from his own body. So Abram and Sarai waited.

As we know, as time went on, they began to doubt and together they took things into their own hands, and Abram slept with Sarai’s maidservant, Hagar, and she gave birth to Abram’s first son, Ishmael. But that wasn’t God’s plan, and Ishmael was not the fulfilment of the promise.

Finally, in Genesis 21, Isaac was born. Abram and Sarai were now called Abraham and Sarah, and Sarah was in her nineties, and Abraham was one hundred! Paul writes, ‘Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him.’ (v. 18)

How are we at believing the promises of God? Do we struggle with the fact that God’s timing, although perfect, is often not the same as our timing? God had promised Abraham that he would become the father of many nations, and it took over twenty years for him to see the fulfilment of that promise, by which time it was, humanly speaking, impossible. Do you sometimes find your faith stretched? Are there things in your life, or in the church or your family where you believe God has promised something, but it was a very long time ago and you are still waiting? How strong is your faith to believe the promises of God? In verses 20 and 21, Paul writes this about Abraham: ‘Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised.’ In this regard, Abraham is a great example to all of us.

 

Prayer

Lord, I thank you that Abraham held on to your promise. His faith kept him going for many years. Please help me to be patient, to be trusting, and always to put my faith in you and in your Word. Lord, we thank you for answered prayers concerning the development of a covid-19 vaccine, and we ask that you will give us patience and trust in you, to see an end to the pandemic. Amen.

Romans 4: 1 - 12

1 What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh, discovered in this matter? ² If, in fact, Abraham was justified by works, he had something to boast about – but not before God. ³ What does Scripture say? ‘Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.’

⁴ Now to the one who works, wages are not credited as a gift but as an obligation. ⁵ However, to the one who does not work but trusts God who justifies the ungodly, their faith is credited as righteousness. ⁶ David says the same thing when he speaks of the blessedness of the one to whom God credits righteousness apart from works:

⁷ ‘Blessed are those
    whose transgressions are forgiven,
    whose sins are covered.
⁸ Blessed is the one
    whose sin the Lord will never count against them.’

⁹ Is this blessedness only for the circumcised, or also for the uncircumcised? We have been saying that Abraham’s faith was credited to him as righteousness. ¹⁰ Under what circumstances was it credited? Was it after he was circumcised, or before? It was not after, but before! ¹¹ And he received circumcision as a sign, a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. So then, he is the father of all who believe but have not been circumcised, in order that righteousness might be credited to them. ¹² And he is then also the father of the circumcised who not only are circumcised but who also follow in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised.

Credited to Him as Righteousness.

In Genesis 15 God made a covenant with Abram (as he was then called). God promised Abram that he would be the father of a great nation. God told him to try and count the stars – and that his offspring would uncountable, like the stars in the sky. And in verse 6 of that chapter it says, ‘Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness.’ (Not an easy verse to read out loud!).

It is this verse in Genesis 15 that Paul is referring to here in our reading in Romans 4: 3. He is using it to illustrate the point that we saw in yesterday’s reading, namely that the righteousness of God is a gift to us through faith rather than through works. Why did the Lord credit Abram with righteousness? Because he believed God. It wasn’t because he had been circumcised (he hadn’t yet – that Jewish regulation had not yet been given), nor that he obeyed the Law of Moses (which was given to the people 430 years later!)

To further reinforce his point, Paul quotes the words of David from Psalm 32:  ‘Blessed are those whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered.’

When Jesus died on the cross he carried all the sin and selfishness of all people. He bridged the gap between God and mankind. God is perfect and holy and completely without sin; whereas human beings are flawed, imperfect, and sinners. Jesus was the bridge because he was the Son of God – and more than that he was God the Son. That means he is God. We believe in the Trinity, which means that God is One, existing in three co-equal persons in perfect community: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. So when Jesus came to earth he was God and Man – but he wasn’t ‘half and half’, like a ‘demi-god’ in Greek mythology. No, Jesus was fully God and fully man – difficult though it is for us to fully grasp how that worked. But because Jesus was the perfect, sinless, God / man, only he could die to take away the sins of mankind. Only Jesus could make that bridge between the perfection of God and the imperfection of humankind. If you and I are followers of Jesus – we have accepted his gift of forgiveness on the cross and invited him to be our Saviour, then our transgressions are forgiven, and our sins are covered by the blood of Jesus. Thus, according to David in Psalm 32, and quoted here in Romans 4: 7, we are truly blessed! And further, in verse 8, ‘Blessed is the one whose sin the Lord will never count against them.’ Yes, the Lord will never count my sin against me because Jesus has taken my sin upon himself. When God looks at me, he does not see my imperfection and sin – rather he sees the perfection and glory of Jesus! And the same is true for you. No wonder we are called ‘blessed’!

 

Prayer

Lord, we thank you that we don’t have to earn your forgiveness or your righteousness. It would be impossible anyway, even if we tried! We praise you that we are blessed with forgivness and salvation in Christ by your grace alone, through faith. Amen.

Romans 3: 21 - 31

21 But now apart from the law the righteousness of God has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. ²² This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, ²³ for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, ²⁴ and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. ²⁵ God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood – to be received by faith. He did this to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished ²⁶  – he did it to demonstrate his righteousness at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.

²⁷ Where, then, is boasting? It is excluded. Because of what law? The law that requires works? No, because of the ‘law’ that requires faith. ²⁸ For we maintain that a person is justified by faith apart from the works of the law. ²⁹ Or is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles too? Yes, of Gentiles too, ³⁰ since there is only one God, who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through that same faith. ³¹ Do we, then, nullify the law by this faith? Not at all! Rather, we uphold the law.

Justified Freely by His Grace.

“But now…” So many wonderful passages in the Bible begin this way. It is a particular favourite of Paul in his letters, in the style of the arguments he makes. Another version is , ‘But God…” which often follows a description of how we have turned away from him.

Thus far, Paul has mainly been explaining to his readers how serious sin is, and how we are all guilty of sin – Jews and Gentiles alike. Following Jewish regulations such as circumcision and the Law of Moses does not save people, is what Paul has been saying.

But now… through Christ, something wonderful has happened! Quite apart from the Law, the righteousness of God has been made known. It’s not the righteousness of Jewish traditions – rather, it is the righteousness ‘given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe.’ And notice that the righteousness in Christ is given to all who believe: ‘There is no difference between Jew and Gentile’. Paul has been working up to this conclusion of his argument – that all are sinners and we are not saved through being a Jew; rather we are saved through Christ alone.

Verses 23 and 24 are an oft-quoted summary of the Gospel: “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.” Firstly, all have sinned. With the exception of Jesus himself there are no exceptions. No-one can honestly claim to be without sin. Every single one of us has at some point chosen the path of disobedience to God, choosing to live according to selfish desires instead of living for God and other people. In doing so, we fall short of the glory of God, which is perfect. Only a completely perfect person could reach the glory of God on their own – and there has only ever been one of those, namely Jesus himself. However, although all have sinned, all of us can also be justified (declared right with God and free from the stain of sin). And we are freely justified – there is no cost to ourselves! And how does this happen? By his grace (God’s love in action, by which he gives us good things that we have not earned or deserved), through the redemption than came by Christ Jesus. Redemption means ‘to buy back’. Jesus bought us back from the reign of sin and death in our lives – and he did so by paying the ultimate price when he died on the cross.

Paul has been building up to this moment over nearly three chapters of Romans. He spent a long time reminding us of the seriousness of sin, and today we have seen the wonderful way in which God deals with that sin!

 

Prayer

Lord, I know I am a sinner, but I rejoice that I am a forgiven sinner. I thank you that I am justified freely by your grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. I rejoice in your love! Amen.