Romans 6:15 ESV
In verse 14, Paul explained that sin no longer has dominion over us. Sin has control to condemn only when one is being judged by the law, but we are under grace - God's unearned, undeserved gift of eternal life through His Son means that we have been given eternal life set free from sin and therefore no longer judged and condemned according to God's perfect law.
As we looked at what it meant to no longer be under the law, we talked about how this means we no longer need to try to earn salvation through doing good things, nor should we. Our attempt to obtain salvation through keeping God's law reveals our lack of faith that Jesus did it all for us. It's common for us as Christians to get caught up in this, but we can be aware and repent of it as God reveals it to us, continually re-centering and re-focusing our faith on Christ alone as Savior!
There is another incorrect way that Paul expects his at least some audience to respond to this truth of God's children being under grace as well, and he deals with this in verse 15. This question that Paul asks "Are we to sin because we are not under the law but under grace?" mirrors the question he asked in verse 1 "Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound?" - He asked that question immediately after explaining that God's grace is more abundant, more powerful than the sin that condemns us.
I think Paul knows something about us, about our flesh...when we realize that we are under God's grace, that sin can no longer condemn us, our flesh begins to work against us by attempting to justify our sin. We begin to convince ourselves that pursuing a life of holiness, completely free of sin, isn't really necessary - we aren't being judged by the law, sin can't condemn us anyway. God loves us regardless, He has promised He won't forsake us.
So, is it true? Can we sin all we want since we are not under the law? Can we live a life freely sinning since Paul told us God's grace is bigger than sin? Can we embrace sin knowing sin does not have the power to condemn us? Legally speaking, it is true that we are completely justified.
No matter how much sin, or what type of sin, is present in the life of a born again child of God, he or she cannot be condemned because of it.
This important to know, because it means we should never repent of sin in our life in hopes of obtaining salvation - we are perfectly and completely justified by the blood of Christ, in spite of the sin in our lives.
However, Paul twice responds to his questions with this phrase: "By no means!" As God's children, we must not sin all we want, we must not live a life freely sinning, we must not embrace any sin in our lives. Not only that, but as God's children, we are told many times in the World that we wont live this way - if we do, we prove that we may not have experienced regeneration, we may not be saved!
In the beginning of Chapter 6, when Paul first asked this question, he then explained why we cannot continue to live in sin because of what has happened to us spiritually as born again, regenerated, resurrected children of God through Jesus Christ. All of this should reveal to us that sin is no longer something we ought to pursue, it is in opposition to God, it's in opposition to the desires of our regenerated heart and mind, and it provides nothing but momentary, temporary pleasure to the flesh. The damage it does, the hindrance to our relationship with God, should rack us with conviction.
Now, in the verses following verse 15, Paul is going to explain why we cannot continue to live in and embrace sin as God's children for another reason - how we live reveals who we are living for, who we serve. Through this explanation, we need to keep our eyes open, because he will also show us how we ought to live, in order that God can be glorified through us - which ought to be our deepest desire!
In light of what Paul has said in the last few verses, we need to keep this in mind as we read God's Word, so that we can stay centered on the truth of the gospel. We all look at some Christians and think "they live life to freely, they don't see their own sin" ... we look at others and think "they have too many rules in their life, they don't understand grace" ... but we need to ask our selves this: what are we basing these judgements on? They are too free based on what? They have too many rules base on what? If we are not using God's Word as the standard, God's Word that says we are completely free as His children, and as His children we are commanded to pursue a life of holiness - if we are not looking to God's Word as our standard, we have no business condemning anyone for their freedom or their rules.
If we aren't basing everything on God's Word, we begin to try to fix the way people are living by applying our own methods. We attempt to fix someone living too 'freely' by trying to put rules in place that will limit their freedom, instead of discussing with them God's holiness - as it is laid out in His Word, and the fact that we ought to be pursuing this holiness ourselves, as we are commanded to do. We attempt to fix someone with too many 'rules' by attacking their rules, instead of discussing with them God's grace, as it is laid out in His Word, and the fact that embracing God's perfect grace strengthens our faith in Him.
By revealing Himself through His Word, God perfectly lays out His own checks and balances - a Christian that understands God's holiness will not embrace a life of sin, and a Christian that understands God's grace won't live a life attempting to earn salvation through good works or by holding to a set of rules.
I said earlier that we should never repent of sin in hopes of obtaining eternal life, since we perfectly and completely justified, set free through Christ. This doesn't mean we shouldn't repent - repentance is crucial in the lives of God's children, it needs to be done with the right motive - the pursuit of holiness, resulting in a deeper, more intimate relationship with God!
We have been set free to pursue a life of holiness with God, through Christ!
No comments:
Post a Comment