Set Free From the Law of Sin and Death...

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The explanation of redemption, beginning in Chapter Six of Romans and ending with Chapter Eight, is not the easiest argument to understand.

(March 7, 2010). In Romans, Chapter Six, which numerous Bible teachers incorrectly apply to the unsaved, Paul tells us that when we have been baptized in water we should count that we are dead with Christ and alive with Christ in order that the body of sin that lives in us may be destroyed. Paul states that if we then continue to sin we will die spiritually, because the wages of sin is death. God, on the other hand, will give us the gift of eternal spiritual life provided we continue in slavery to righteousness and holiness.

Chapter Seven is written to "men who know the Law," that is, to Jews. Paul is saying that under the Law, while our inner nature wants to practice righteousness, our sinful nature causes us to act as a slave to sin.

I realize that Christian teachers often use Paul’s words as an excuse for sinful behavior, maintaining that as long as we are alive in the present world we can be compelled to sin. They are misapplying Paul’s argument. Paul is saying that trying to be righteous under the Law is futile, because of our sinful nature. He then proceeds in Chapter Eight of Romans to show us how under Christ, instead of under the Law of Moses, we can be set free from slavery to sin.

The exceedingly important issue with the Jew is whether he can abandon Moses and look to Christ, and remain righteous in the sight of God. This is why Paul, as he begins to explain how Christ can set us free from bondages of sin, starts off with "There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ." You can leave Moses, come to Christ, and still be counted righteous. This is an awesome concept to the Jew who has lived under the Law for many years.

One troublesome area of Christian thinking is the misunderstanding that being set free from sin means being set free from the guilt of sin. Actually, when speaking of being set free from sin, we are not referring to being set free from the guilt of sin but from the sinful bondages that cause us to sin against our will. In other words, we are referring to righteous behaviour.

The monumental error in the Christian thinking of our day is that Christ forgives our sin, but He cannot set us free from slavery to sinful behavior–that is, not in this present world. This misunderstanding arises perhaps from applying Chapter Seven of Romans to Christian people.

Because our tradition holds that to be saved is to be ready to go to Heaven when we die, it is difficult to understand substantial parts of the New Testament. Actually the subject of the New Testament is the coming of the Kingdom of God to the earth, not the going of saved people to Heaven when they die.

The Father promised Christ that His enemies would be made Christ’s footstool. All the works of Satan are to be crushed under the feet of Christ. Therefore, putting to death the actions of our sinful nature is equivalent to Christ’s enemies being put under His feet. We understand, therefore, that it is time now for God’s saints to begin to work with the Spirit of God in putting to death all of the sinful actions of our body.

The eighth chapter of Romans is not primarily about deliverance from the guilt of sin but deliverance from the practice of sin.

Consider the following carefully, remembering this is written to "All in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints":

Therefore, brothers, we have an obligation—but it is not to the sinful nature, to live according to it. For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live, because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. (Romans 8:12-14)

Please notice that we are not obliged to live according to our sinful nature.

Does the above passage sound to you like deliverance from the guilt of sin or deliverance from the practice of sin? There are two aspects of redemption we might consider. First, the critical role of God’s Spirit in delivering us from the practice of sin.

Second, the above three verses (Romans 8:12-14) follow Paul’s statement that if we diligently live in continual obedience to the Spirit of God, then eventually the Spirit of God will redeem our physical body by filling it with Himself.

The following three verses confirm what we are saying in this essay:

So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law.

The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. (Galatians 5:16-25)

Notice the sorts of behaviors we are to crucify:

Sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like.

These spirits dwell in our flesh. God has designed our battles so He may choose from among His elect those who will govern His Kingdom. If we do not put these behaviors to death through the Spirit of God, we will not be given an incorruptible body when the Lord comes. But if we do put them to death through the Spirit of God, if we are an overcomer, if we are a victorious saint, we will govern the creation with Christ at His appearing and His Kingdom.

So we see that we have a part to play in our destiny. If we choose to live in victory, we will live and reign with Christ. If we choose to live as most Christians in America do, we will live and die as any other person, and then be raised and judged at the final resurrection of the dead.

Paul’s point is this: The making alive of our physical body, which will take place when the Lord Jesus next appears, depends on our being faithful in putting to death the sinful deeds of our body. If we thus are faithful, when Jesus appears, at the sounding of the last trumpet, those who sleep in Jesus will be raised from the dead and our body will be made alive in the Spirit of God. The redemption of his body, which was Paul’s goal, would enable Paul to have that freedom from his "body of death" that he so desired, freedom from the desire to sin.

One reason we Gentiles have a difficult time correctly interpreting Paul’s writings is that Paul’s goal was righteous behavior, whereas our stated goal is eternal residence in a mansion in Heaven. The true goal of the Divine redemption is righteous people. It is a change in what we are as a person, not the transfer of us from earth to Heaven.

Romans 8:13 offers us the redemption of our body if through the Spirit of God we keep putting to death the desires of our sinful nature; but–Christian or not–the assurance that if we continue to live according to our sinful nature we will not experience a change in our physical body when the Lord appears.

Paul says the same thing in the Book of Galatians:

The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. (Galatians 6:8)

Perhaps we could sum up Paul’s statements in the sixth through the eighth chapters of the Book of Romans by saying that if we choose to obey the Spirit of God each day, the guilt of our sin incurred under the Law of Moses is removed on the basis of the blood atonement made by the Lord on the cross of Calvary.

Now we are free to be led by the Spirit of God. The Spirit is ready, willing, and able at all times to guide us in each aspect of our daily behavior. As we choose to turn aside from behavior that we know to be displeasing to God, the Spirit strengthens us and puts to death the sinful compulsions that are in us.

The process, or program, I am describing actually is steps to the first resurrection from the dead, the inward resurrection that always must precede the outward.

In light of some of the current teachings, let me utter a word of caution. It is true that the Spirit of God performs every act of significance in the Kingdom of God. We have fellowship with Him, as well as with the Father and the Son. We are baptized into the Name of the Spirit of God.

However, the fellowship is one-sided. The Holy Spirit speaks to us and guides us. But we never speak to Him or attempt to guide Him. We never pray to Him. We never are to sing to Him. We never are to worship Him.

The Lord Jesus Christ is the Lord of all. He died for our sins. The Spirit did not die for our sins. Christ is the Bridegroom. The Holy Spirit is not the Bridegroom. Christ is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. This is not true of the Spirit of God. Jesus Christ is our elder Brother. The Holy Spirit is not our elder Brother.

Think of the Spirit as one whose Presence we feel, a Presence that comforts us. Whatever we need, we are to go to Christ who in turn goes to the Father. We can go to the Father directly, if we wish. Then the Father guides and empowers the Son so He can direct the Spirit to assist us in our hour of need. This is the actual, scriptural, management pattern of the Kingdom of God. This is what the Spirit guides us to do.

If we look to Jesus at all times, in all situations, the Spirit of God will continue to guide and strengthen us. We have been delivered from the guilt of sin and now are being delivered from the power of sin to control our behavior. (from The Theology of Robert B. Thompson)

You can hear the morning sermon at morning. http://www.wor.org/audio/audio.htm

You can hear the evening sermon at evening. http://www.wor.org/audio/audio.htm

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