Here we are in chapter six of Romans. Just about all you need to know on how to live out the life of Christ is packed into Romans chapters 5-8.
Romans 6:1-4 (NIV)
1 What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase?
2 By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?
3 Or don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized 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.
In these verses Paul is alerting us to a fact of our Christian life and that is we who know the savior are dead to sin. The words dead to sin means sin no longer has advantage over us. This is a truth whether we feel it or not. In theological circles it is known as positional truth. You may not have experienced the truth as of yet, but that does not diminish the fact that it is true. We are no longer in bondage to sin. We can live a life free of sin. Now when I say that I am not, nor does mean perfection. It means that I do not have to practice sin. I can break off from habits that are harmful to myself and to others. The hope we have is that we are free in Christ to become like Christ beginning now and forever more. We are to live a new life. This new life in Christ changes everything for us--I mean everything!! I remember a cartoon where people are studying the Bible and the leader asks the group, "Have you died to sin?" One person said no, but I have felt a little faint at one time. In verse 2 Paul is putting this in the past tense. We died to sin! It is in the past tense. We are to believe and to practice it.
It is the great moment of our lives when we decide that sin must die right out, not be curbed or suppressed or counteracted, but crucified.
Oswald Chambers (1874–1917)
Friday, April 16, 2010
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Romans 5:18-21 (NIV)
18 Consequently, just as the result of one trespass was condemnation for all men, so also the result of one act of righteousness was justification that brings life for all men.
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 added 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.
Disobedience has brought death to all, but Christ's obedience has made many righteous. The law comes into the equation in order to help people understand that they truly have fallen. Where there is law sin will increase, but again God's grace wins. Wherever sin abounds God's grace abounds even more. This is the age of grace. Grace has always been part of God's plan, but it is in the Christ covenant where grace and truth have been revealed. In the Old Testament we had glimpses into God's grace and mercy. There were times in the O.T. it was if God pulled the curtain back completely to reveal His grace and mercy. The difference is that God has now knocked down the curtain once and for all.We even see it in Christ's teaching before he died on the cross. Think of Christ's teaching on forgiving others in Matthew 18 and Jesus says we are to forgive 7 times 70 not just 7 times. Peter could hardly believe his ears. It was later that Peter was glad it was 7 times 70. Here comes the rub in the next chapter when Paul answers what the believers are thinking in their heads.
Romans 6:1-4 (NIV)
1 What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase?
2 By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?
3 Or don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized 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.
Are there people who try and take advantage of God's grace? Yes! Maybe the question should be are there who have taken advantage of God's grace? Yes! Have you taken advantage of God's grace?
We are not to go on sinning. God's grace has brought us to the cross and we have died to sin. Sin no longer has advantage over you or me. God has total access to us and we have total access to God. We are to take advantage of all of God's resources in order to live above sin. Here is quote by A.W. Tozer who was a pastor in Chicago.
Grace is the good pleasure of God that inclines him to bestow benefits upon the undeserving. It is a self-existent principle inherent in the divine nature and appears to us as a self-caused propensity to pity the wretched, spare the guilty, welcome the outcast, and bring into favor those who were before under just disapprobation. Its use to us sinful men is to save us and make us sit together in heavenly places to demonstrate to the ages the exceeding riches of God’s kindness to us in Christ Jesus.
A. W. Tozer (1897–1963)
18 Consequently, just as the result of one trespass was condemnation for all men, so also the result of one act of righteousness was justification that brings life for all men.
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 added 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.
Disobedience has brought death to all, but Christ's obedience has made many righteous. The law comes into the equation in order to help people understand that they truly have fallen. Where there is law sin will increase, but again God's grace wins. Wherever sin abounds God's grace abounds even more. This is the age of grace. Grace has always been part of God's plan, but it is in the Christ covenant where grace and truth have been revealed. In the Old Testament we had glimpses into God's grace and mercy. There were times in the O.T. it was if God pulled the curtain back completely to reveal His grace and mercy. The difference is that God has now knocked down the curtain once and for all.We even see it in Christ's teaching before he died on the cross. Think of Christ's teaching on forgiving others in Matthew 18 and Jesus says we are to forgive 7 times 70 not just 7 times. Peter could hardly believe his ears. It was later that Peter was glad it was 7 times 70. Here comes the rub in the next chapter when Paul answers what the believers are thinking in their heads.
Romans 6:1-4 (NIV)
1 What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase?
2 By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?
3 Or don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized 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.
Are there people who try and take advantage of God's grace? Yes! Maybe the question should be are there who have taken advantage of God's grace? Yes! Have you taken advantage of God's grace?
We are not to go on sinning. God's grace has brought us to the cross and we have died to sin. Sin no longer has advantage over you or me. God has total access to us and we have total access to God. We are to take advantage of all of God's resources in order to live above sin. Here is quote by A.W. Tozer who was a pastor in Chicago.
Grace is the good pleasure of God that inclines him to bestow benefits upon the undeserving. It is a self-existent principle inherent in the divine nature and appears to us as a self-caused propensity to pity the wretched, spare the guilty, welcome the outcast, and bring into favor those who were before under just disapprobation. Its use to us sinful men is to save us and make us sit together in heavenly places to demonstrate to the ages the exceeding riches of God’s kindness to us in Christ Jesus.
A. W. Tozer (1897–1963)
Monday, April 12, 2010
Romans 5:16-21
My hope and prayer for you is that you grow closer to God in every way, every day. Stay with me in the book of Romans!!!
Romans 5:16-21 (NIV)
16 Again, the gift of God is not like the result of the 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 the result of one trespass was condemnation for all men, so also the result of one act of righteousness was justification that brings life for all men.
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 added 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.
How does a person get to heaven? Sunday after the 11:00 o'clock service I had an appointment with a man that had said to me in our previous meeting, "I guess the best way to describe my life is I am lost." This man has no religious background and yet said those words. In my meeting with him I asked him to let me explain how to get to heaven according to the Word of God. I used John 3:16 as the sole basis of our conversation as I have done for years. The gospel is contained in that one verse. He had not had a drink for at least four days because it was his turn to take the children and his body literally shook the whole hour that we met. His mind, however, was not shaking and he got the message that Jesus saves and that he needs Christ. Pray that he will soon surrender his life. One thing that I shared with him that seemed to help is that faith has three components and they are knowledge, understanding and the will. A person needs some knowledge of what they are to believe in, it is not perfect knowledge. The next step they have to have some grasp of what the knowledge implies for their life. The next step then is to submit to the new truth that is surrender their will. He looked at me when I got to the will part and said "that's it isn't it?" His problem, as with most, is he did not want to submit to God. Do you have a 'will' problem?
Romans 5:16-21 (NIV)
16 Again, the gift of God is not like the result of the 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 the result of one trespass was condemnation for all men, so also the result of one act of righteousness was justification that brings life for all men.
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 added 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.
How does a person get to heaven? Sunday after the 11:00 o'clock service I had an appointment with a man that had said to me in our previous meeting, "I guess the best way to describe my life is I am lost." This man has no religious background and yet said those words. In my meeting with him I asked him to let me explain how to get to heaven according to the Word of God. I used John 3:16 as the sole basis of our conversation as I have done for years. The gospel is contained in that one verse. He had not had a drink for at least four days because it was his turn to take the children and his body literally shook the whole hour that we met. His mind, however, was not shaking and he got the message that Jesus saves and that he needs Christ. Pray that he will soon surrender his life. One thing that I shared with him that seemed to help is that faith has three components and they are knowledge, understanding and the will. A person needs some knowledge of what they are to believe in, it is not perfect knowledge. The next step they have to have some grasp of what the knowledge implies for their life. The next step then is to submit to the new truth that is surrender their will. He looked at me when I got to the will part and said "that's it isn't it?" His problem, as with most, is he did not want to submit to God. Do you have a 'will' problem?
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