Calvin (8/20/01-8/21/01)

6:12

While sin does still dwell in us, it oughtn't to reign any longer. Such would be inconsistent with a sanctified life. The body is representative of all that is sinful in us, both soul and flesh, both condemned to die because of sin's rule over them. Although the soul was designed for immortality, the fall has rendered it fit only for immorality. (Ge 6:3 - Because man is flesh, I will not strive with him eternally, but shall limit the days of his life. Jn 3:6 - What is born of the flesh is flesh. What is born of the Spirit is spirit.)

6:13

We have enrolled ourselves as soldiers in the army of God, and our every faculty is called to be borne as a weapon in His service. As such, we ought by no means to allow our weapons to be used by the forces of sin. It would be most treasonous to so use the tools God has given us to fight our spiritual war with. Those who claim Christianity, yet have their faculties ever ready to sin belie their own claim. Footnote: The concept of sin as a ruling tyrant is carried forward from the last verse. There, we were introduced to the lusts by which he commands and coerces his subjects. Here, we are introduced to the weapons he employs in his battle against the righteousness of God. We are called to turn all those weapons which are our faculties over to the service of God, dedicated to the promotion of His glory. Our actions ought to suit the new life to which God has birthed us.

6:14

What is the intent of law and grace in this verse? Is it the letter of the Law vs. the grace of the Spirit? If so, why would Paul's question of the next verse follow? The purpose here is to console those who have just come face to face with an impossible task. We have just been reminded of the call to holiness. We are daily reminded of our inability to comply. What Paul gives here is hope. We are no longer judged by the punishing condemnations of the Law, for Christ bore those punishments for us. Now, our works, stained and imperfect though they be, are washed clean and rendered acceptable at the throne of God by that same Christ. The law remains, but the curse of the law does not. We are no longer bound and condemned by rules impossible for us to keep, doomed by our first mistake. We are redeemed by the blood of Christ, reborn in a fashion able to do the good works our Father desires, and our works made acceptable by that same blood. Although sins may (and will) plague us throughout life, yet they are not victorious. The full rigor of the Law no longer binds us, and so sin loses its primary weapon against us. By the same token, all who have not the grace of God remain bound under the heavy yoke of the Law, and stand condemned by it still.

6:15

The wisdom of our sinful flesh immediately rises up to suggest that the Law being removed, the distinction between good and evil has also been removed, and we can sin with impunity. But such is a complete misunderstanding of the truth. The precepts of the Law, the righteousness described by it, remain intact as Christ's teaching shows. What was the right way of living remains so. It is the curse of the Law, and only the curse of the Law, that has been eliminated for those dwelling in grace.

6:16

Sin and Christ present two yokes to man, of which only one may be borne. The ox cannot be tied to two opposing carts, we must choose the one we will be bound to, and serve it alone. If you obey one, you declare yourself his servant, and demonstrate that he has the power to command you. If it is sin you serve, then clearly sin has dominion over you. The alternative is obedience, the proper expression of righteousness. And true obedience can only have its object in God.

6:17

Thanks be to God, indeed! It is solely by His grace that we have been delivered from the bonds of sin, and no merit of our own has drawn that grace to us. We were slaves to sin. There have been no exceptions. Who has become obedient from the heart, has become so by the grace of God, which has ended the kingdom of sin in us from its first inception. It is impossible that we should continue as sin's subjects when the grace of God reigns in us, for that grace includes our regeneration. We have not been freed from the law to run off after all our fleshly desires. Rather, a better way has been found. Rather than the external coercion of the Law constraining us by threat, we have now the doctrine engraved upon our hearts, that we may follow it out of love for its Author.

6:18

Having been freed from sin's slavery, it is unreasonable for the slave so freed to return to his bonds. He will by all means preserve the liberty that has been won for him. Thus, it is right and proper that such a one would turn himself to service of Him who brought that liberty to him. It is impossible to serve righteousness unless and until Christ breaks the tyranny of sin in us. (Jn 8:36 - If the Son frees you, you will be free in truth.) From this, the limitations of our free will are clearly seen, for until God's grace effects the breaking of our bonds to sin, the will is free only to choose to sin.

6:19

It is not in substance but in manner that Paul reduces his words to human level. (Jn 3:12 - I spoke to you of heavenly things in earthly terms and you didn't believe. How, then, could you possibly believe if I spoke of heavenly things directly?) It is an accommodation. Nothing could be worse than that we treat God's grace as less powerful than our freedom. At very least, we ought to be as ardent in our service to righteousness as we were in our service to sinfulness. The degree of readiness with which we served sin clearly shows how strong our bondage to it was. We ought now to be 'equally prompt and ready to execute the commands of God.' (1Th 4:7 - God did not call us to have us continue in impurities, but He called us to sanctification, to holiness.) Impurity is that sinfulness that opposes chastity and damages the self. Lawlessness is that sinfulness that does injury to others, and so opposes justice. Sanctification is the result of righteousness, of faithful devotion to God.

6:20

Sin and righteousness are so opposite in nature that it is impossible to be devoted to the one and not depart from the other. When we were in our sins, we felt no compulsion to give any thought to the rule of righteousness. It had no claim upon our conscience. Now that we have been freed from those bonds that held us to our sins, we ought to bind ourselves to that righteousness that freed us, and allow sinfulness no further claim upon our conscience. Such was our free will before God touched us. We were perfectly free to ignore His claims, and so, were bound inexorably to the devil, the master of sins.

6:21

We are rightly ashamed of our past. The light of the Gospel makes clear who we were before it shone. And the continued memory of who we once were serves to humble us before the God who picked us up and cleaned us off. Before He opened our eyes, we were blind to our own condition, happy with our wretched state, not seeing the chasm opened before our feet, awaiting our fall. And doubtless, we would have proceeded over that precipice had not the very hand of God's mercy held us from our plunge.

6:22

By way of contrast, the righteousness with which God has blessed us leads us to holiness and eternal life. Not that that life comes as reward for some innate worth in us, but that righteousness which is a gift to us leads to life. And knowing this, how can we possibly pursue that which led only to death?

6:23

Those who serve in the army of sin have for their 'meat allotment' nothing but death. This is the only pay the tyrant has for his soldiers, and that this is so ought to make us all the more conscientious in serving not that tyrant, but our Lord. Our Lord, by contrast, gives us righteousness as a gift, and that righteousness restores us to the fullness of life in Him. Not the meager pay of the soldier, but the rich blessings of the child. Note that throughout, Paul carefully chooses his words to preserve before our sight that fact that none of this blessed condition is due to our own effort or worth. All has come strictly by the grace of God; our salvation through the righteousness of Jesus, and our sanctification through the power of the Holy Spirit.

 

 

Matthew Henry (8/12/01 & 8/22/01)

6:12

(8/12/01) Sin may occasionally overwhelm us, yet it must not rule in us any longer. Sin is the yielding of our will to the lusts of our flesh, and it was these very lusts that caused this flesh to become a mortal body. Knowing that it is because of sin that our bodies are rushing toward dust, give no further obedience to that destructive sin.

6:13

(8/12/01) The body, fearfully and wonderfully made, is sadly allowed to be a tool in the hands of corruption. In one sinful act lies the beginning of a habit, which each successive act will only strengthen. Therefore, do not consent to allow sin the use of your body. The life of holiness is a giving of ourselves to the Lord (2Co 8:5 - [The Macedonians] gave themselves to the Lord and, by His will, to us.) We must yield to Him not only as a conqueror, but as the object of our desire, and our teacher. Not only ought we to present ourselves to Him, but we ought to "be always ready to serve Him...to be, and have, and do, what He pleases." (Ac 9:6 - Rise and enter. You will be told what you must do. Ro 12:1 - Present yourselves as living and holy sacrifices, such as are acceptable to God.) To present Him with a dead carcass is not worship, but insult.

6:14

If we think it too hard to conquer sin, Paul tells us here that our great enemy is already foiled, that the covenant of grace is far stronger than sin. Though sin may still trouble us, it will no longer rule. We are moved by different principles than once we were. In the Law, we had the command without the means to obey. We had condemnation at our first failure. In grace, God Himself promises to be the strength in us to obey. Our failures are forgiven as soon as we repent. "Our salvation [is not] in our own keeping, but [laid] up in the hands of the Mediator." Such overwhelming love and kindness on the part of our Lord ought as nothing else to stir us up to a greater desire to be obedient to His wishes.

6:15

What could be worse offense than to give affront to one who has shown such extraordinary love toward us? Were it between men, all would see the shame of it. How much moreso between man and God?

6:16

All of mankind can be divided into two families, that of God's servants, and that of sin's servants. One need only look at whose rules he obeys to ascertain which family he is in.

6:17

We need to be reminded of our former state on a regular basis. It speaks loudly against sin that so many have abandoned its service, never to return to it. We need the reminder that this has passed from us. We were servants of sin, but are no longer. It should cause us to shout out our thankfulness to God that His mercy made such a change in us. It should cause us to strive the harder in pursuit of holiness. Our conversion is our compliance with the Gospel of Christ, which is the rule of truth, and holiness. Grace is the impression of the stamp of the Gospel upon us, "the form of healing words." (2Ti 1:13 - Retain the standards which you have heard in my own sound words, delivered in faith and love, which are in Christ Jesus.) It is not enough to believe the Gospel, we must also obey it from the heart. It must have command of us. "To be a Christian indeed is to be transformed into the likeness and similitude of the Gospel," all of our being brought into accord with its doctrine.

6:18

In conversion we are freed from our service to sin, but not so as to be our own masters. No, we are freed that we might bind ourselves to the service of God, to the work of righteousness, bind ourselves in covenant with our Lord. We cannot serve two masters. Before we can serve God, we must be freed from our service to sin.

6:19

(8/12/01) Once freed from the rule of sin, the members of the body must remain active, but yielded now in service to righteousness. Just as each sinful action builds up a habit of sin, and makes each subsequent sin easier to fall into, so each righteous act builds up a habit of holiness, and makes each subsequent service to God easier to willingly perform. (8/22/01) It must be remembered that when we were enslaved to sin it was by our own choosing. We willingly put ourselves in the bonds, and so, God is quite justified to bring ruin upon the sinner. Each sinful act confirms the sinful nature, making the next all the easier to succumb to.

6:20

We were freed from righteousness in our sinful state, but not in that we were given that liberty. Rather, we took it perforce, ignoring every principle of goodness, and refusing the law God declared. And this we called our liberty, "but a freedom from righteousness is the worst kind of slavery."

6:21

Consider, then. What benefit was ever gained from our sins? Not only was the future loss beyond reckoning, but there is nothing of benefit even in the present to show for our sinful ways. Our service was in vain. No wonder we are ashamed of what we used to be like! Shame is the fruit of sin. How could we willingly throw ourselves into tasks that will later shame us? We, as rational creatures, have the benefit of looking forward at the consequence of our actions. Doing so, we can clearly see the blessing and the curse before us, and we are called to make our choice. However pleasant the choice to sin may seem at present, the final result is death. Remember.

6:22

No comments

6:23

Death is the payment due to the worker of sin, from the least sin to the greatest. Those who will do the work of sin must expect the wages that will be paid. By contrast, those who will do the work of righteousness, no matter how hard the toil may be, their path will lead to eternal life. God's gift to His workers is life, with full vision of God and free of all infirmities. Where death was an earned wage, life is a gift of pure favor. All who reach hell will do so on their own merit, none who reach heaven can make that claim. By Christ, the Alpha and Omega, our salvation has been procured, and by Christ, it is prepared and protected to the end.

 

 

Adam Clarke (8/23/01-8/24/01)

6:12

Sin wants to control the mind and the body, but must not be allowed any place therein. Wherever we feel sin, it has dominion. It cannot be quiet, but if it exists, it will work its sinful ways. The king is no king whose laws are ignored. If sin is the reigning king in your body, your body will obey its dictates.

6:13

Our sin is not in being tempted, but in yielding to that temptation. Until we yield, the sin remains Satan's. He cannot force us to sin, but must win our willful complicity. (Jas 4:7 - Submit to God, resist the devil, and he will flee.) Satan cannot, and God will not force your will. To be will, it must be free. Choose, then, to yield your will to God, where it is safe. All that we are ought to be employed in God's service: purity of thought and speech, goodness of works, and a steady walk toward eternity. "Be holy within, and holy without."

6:14

God has delivered you from sin. If you have returned to subjection to it, it is by our own choice and negligence. The Law indeed gave us the rules, but not the power to comply. Grace has maintained the same strict conformance to God's will, but has given us the power necessary for that conformance. The past has been pardoned, and grace given to help in every need.

6:15

How could we consider abusing that holy calling God has put upon us, that pardoning grace, by presuming upon His mercy in our continual sinning?

6:16

Is it even possible to claim to be a servant of Christ, and yet perform the service of sin? The servant cannot have two masters, and our obedience declares our true allegiance. The slave was ever at the mercy of his master. Satan is a cruel master, and will ever oppress and abuse his slaves. Christ, by contrast is an 'infinitely good' master, whose property we are declared to be. To serve Him is to serve in the perfection of freedom. (Ro 1:1 - Paul was also a servant of Christ, set apart for service to the gospel of God.)

6:17

Thanks is given not that we were sinners, but that in spite of our sinfulness, we came to obey the gospel doctrine. (Is 12:1 - I will thank You, God, that even though You were angry with me, yet Your anger was turned away from me, and You gave me comfort instead of wrath.) The gospel is as a mold. It both melts us, as metal, and gives form to us thereafter, that we might take on the imprint of the very image of God, of true righteousness and holiness.

6:18

We have been redeemed from our former slavery, and now serve righteousness. "Sin can enjoin no good and profitable work; righteousness can require none that is unjust or injurious."

6:19

To speak in human terms is to set aside the poetic and philosophical expressions, and write for the common man. So, Paul momentarily abandons heavenly expressions in favor of the examples of everyday life. Again, the depths to which we had sunk prior to the Gospel is displayed, which depths can be found in greater detail back in chapter 1.

6:20

Service to both God and the Devil is not possible, we are either saints or sinners, and cannot be both. Our corruption by sin was so pervasive that righteousness had no claim whatsoever upon us. (Ge 6:5 - The LORD saw that man had no thought that wasn't evil, that no good remained in him.)

6:21

All that we did in our former life was self-endangering, harmful to others, and provoking to God. Whatever promised pleasures we were chasing, the real result of our efforts was our death.

6:22

"Being made free from sin is the finished character of a genuine Christian." "Holiness of heart was the principle; and righteousness of life was the fruit."

6:23

Long and hard does the sinner labor in service to his sin, and divine justice must pay him his wages, or be an eternal debtor. So, the eternal death of hell. Whereas the sinner reaches hell on his own merit, the righteous reach heaven solely by God's gracious gift in Christ, He who died to obtain our pardon and to empower us to be holy. The sinner is paid his wages daily, carrying hell within him in his sins. "Every indulgence of sinful passion increases the disorder, and consequently the misery of a sinner." Oh, that men would put as much effort towards salvation as they had toward destruction! Doctrine and practice must connect within the Christian. Every doctrine that comes from God leads to God. The truth taught must be responded to by action. It is an astounding thing to consider a man that believes the whole Gospel, yet continues in his sins. All that the Bible teaches tells us that holiness of life is our call, our own best self-interest. (Heb 2:3 - If we neglect this salvation that has been given us, how, then, will we ever escape?) As your conscience may answer this question before God, so direct your actions.

 

 

Barnes' Notes (8/25/01-8/26/01)

6:12

Considering all that has been said in the preceding verses, reason tells us that we ought not to allow sin to rule in us. The mortal body reminds us that the flesh has all too great a tendency toward sin and corruption. (Ro 7:5 - The Law aroused the sinful passions of the flesh, to work in our bodies for death. Ro 7:23 - There is a different law in my body than that which is in my mind, which keeps the two at war with each other, for I am held prisoner by the law of sin which occupies my flesh. Ro 8:3 - God accomplished through His Son that which the Law couldn't manage, condemning sin in the flesh by offering Himself in the flesh. Ro 8:6 - The mind focused on the flesh is focused on death, but the mind focused on the Spirit is focused on life and peace.) It also keeps us mindful of our own weakness, and susceptibility to temptations. The mortal body should never be allowed to overcome the immortal mind. This is the path by which sin establishes such entire rule over the man as to make him a slave to its lustful desires.

6:13

The members are the specific instances of that which was included in the more general 'mortal body' of the previous verse. (1Co 6:15 - Your bodies are members, hands and feet as it were, of Christ Himself. How can you, then, even consider removing the limbs of Christ and joining them to a prostitute? 1Co 12:12 - One body is made up of many members, and each member is part of the same one body. So it is with the body of Christ, which is the church. 1Co 12:18 - He has placed each specific part of His body just as He would have them placed. 1Co 12:20 - Yet, all these numerous parts remain but one body.) The term translated 'instruments' is most specifically applied to the weapons of warfare, but more loosely applied, may indicate any tool used for defense or aid. We mustn't allow our bodies, our organs, to be such weapons in the hands of sin, to be of any use in defending or assisting sin. Rather, our entire being ought to be devoted to God, spirit and soul and body. The tongue ought to serve only to praise God, and declare His truth, kindness, and benevolence. The hands ought to serve only in labor useful to His cause. The feet ought to run to every opportunity to serve Him, and never step on the paths of iniquity. Eyes ought to look only to His works, so as to incite us to praise and thanksgiving. Ears should never listen to lies, nor to such songs as seek to incite our passions. Rather they should strain to 'catch the voice of God,' to hear His Word. "He speaks to us every day, and we should hear Him; He spreads His glories before us, and we should survey them to praise Him; He commands, and our hands, and heart, and feet should obey."

6:14

Sin should not, and in the Christian will not, rule. (Ro 5:12 - Sin came to the world by one man, and spread from there to all men, bringing death to all, for all had sinned. Ro 6:6 - But our old self was crucified with Him, so that our sin might be done away with, and we no longer its slaves.) We are no longer incited to sin by the Law, it no longer awakens greater lusts in us. We are not free from the moral obligations of the Law. (Mt 5:17-19 - I didn't come to abolish the Law, but to fulfill it. The Law will continue unchanged so long as heaven and earth remain, and the one who tries to set aside even the least significant of these laws will be the least significant in heaven, whereas the one who keeps and teaches the whole of the Law will be great in heaven.) We are obliged to keep the Law, but it is not the means of our justification. We know better than to attempt to reach heaven on our own obedience. The effect of every attempt to be justified by the Law was not the subduing of sin, but the exciting of greater sins. If Paul had continued to declare a justification by merit, he could not then have pushed for us to abolish sin in our lives, for that abolishing of sin needs the power that accompanies justification by faith in Christ. By contrast, the plan of grace tends toward sin's destruction in us.

6:15

The idea that the free pardon of the Gospel leaves us free to sin with impunity is one that all too many Christians have taken up. But here, Paul emphatically denounces such a view. Why? In part, because of the very tendency of grace to destroy sin, as was noted in the previous verse.

6:16

Just as our prior slavery to sin required us to obey the dictates of the sin that mastered us, so our current position as servants of righteousness requires us to obey the dictates of the righteous One who is now our master. Such an example as that of the slave and his master was one intended to be plainly understood, and obvious to all. Even though the servitude be voluntary, yet the master maintained the right of absolute control over the servants time and actions. (Lk 17:9 - The slave is not thanked for obeying commands. Jn 8:34 - Every man that commits sin is a slave of sin. Jn 15:15 - But I no longer call you slaves, for the slave knows only the command, not the reason for it. Rather, I call you friends, for I have made known to you all that My Father has told me.) That law of obedience applies to whatever master you assume, and you must assume either sin or righteousness to rule over you. If you have yielded yourself to sin, you are bound to take the consequences, even though they be death and eternal torment. So also, if you have yielded yourself to righteousness, you have bound yourself to pursue its consequences, even to pursue eternal justification. We are obliged to obey Him to whom we have devoted ourselves.

6:17

That Paul could provide from their own experience, a means for understanding the dictates of justification upon the life of the Christian is cause for gratitude to God on his part. Thanks is not given for their prior sinfulness, but for the fact that in spite of that sinfulness, they had come to obey righteousness. So, we also ought to give great thanks to God that in spite of our previous sinfulness, He has brought conversion, that we might obey Him. Our service to sin was as severe as slavery. Our service to righteousness has become just as strong, but comes also from a sincere heart desire. Our lives have been conformed to the teaching we have received. (Ro 1:8 - and so, your faith is being proclaimed throughout the world, for which I thank God through Jesus.)

6:18

Having been set free from the mastery of sin, we are no longer obliged to obey it. Now, we have voluntarily yielded ourselves to righteousness, and are thus bound to be holy [bound as in obliged.] (Jn 8:32 - The truth will make you free.)

6:19

An example is taken from common life. Long indulgence in sin has dimmed the mind's capacity for spiritual considerations, so this appeal to the life of the flesh is made necessary. Being more familiar, the lesson is more easily learned than one presented in strictly spiritual terms. We had been servants to degrading passions and impurities, lawbreakers before God, that we might proceed to even grosser sins. We are reminded of our past to generate a greater gratitude and humility as we consider what God has done for us. As completely as we served sin, we ought now to serve God, and if we all did so, the Church would soon be unstoppable. We ought to lament the fact that it is not so with us.

6:20

We were completely under sin's influence, totally non-cognizant of righteousness, totally depraved. Now, we ought to be equally non-cognizant of sin, completely influenced by righteousness, totally sanctified.

6:21

We have all experienced sin, and the benefits thereof. We know firsthand of its effects, that it produces only bitter fruit. Knowing this, we will no longer indulge our sins. (Ro 7:5 - While we remained in our fleshly state, the Law aroused us to sins that bore the fruit of death in us.) Now that we know where our sins lead, we are ashamed of them. (Eph 5:12 - It is disgraceful even to speak of those things we used to do. 2Co 4:2 - Those things we have now renounced because we are so ashamed to have done them. We'll not lie, nor shall we bend God's word to make ourselves acceptable as we were. We will instead show ourselves in the full light of God's truth, and allow that to testify to our consciences before God. Jude 13 - Such as deceive themselves regarding the truth are as the sea, their shame churning on the surface, as the foam is churned up by waves. Php 3:19 - Their end is destruction, for they are ruled only by their appetites, and glory only in their shame, for their minds are firmly set on the things of this earth.)

6:22

The fruit of our current service, freed from sin's bondage, is holiness. The final result will be eternal life, which ought to keep us striving after the holiness that is to precede that life. (Jn 3:36 - He who believes in the Son has eternal life, but the one who won't obey Him won't see life, but only God's wrath.) That death which is the opposite of eternal life is just as eternal in its punishment. Clearly, more than simple temporal death is at stake here, for even the most righteous of men will yet suffer temporal death. The reference is to something beyond the simple death of the body, to the eternal punishment of those who will refuse God His due honor. Having changed course from that punishment to the path that leads to life, we ought all the more to strive for holiness in our lives even now.

6:23

Death is no more than the proper payment for a life of sin, the merited reward. This is the result for all who would be treated as they deserve. In making payment on these wages, God does no more than He had long since said He would do. (Eze 18:4 - All souls are mine, and that soul which sins will die.) Eternal life, on the other hand, is the gift of God's mercy. It has nothing to do with what we deserve, but is given in spite of what we deserve. Life or death, make your choice. Either way, the result is an eternal, never ending result. There is no sinner who dies that dies a martyr's death. No one is punished in innocence. There is none who will reach heaven by their own merit, but all salvation will be a celebration of His mercy and grace, which we will indeed celebrate forever. Knowing the true end of sinfulness, what man can be so foolish as to run headlong toward that end? Lay hold, even now, of that eternal life that God has offered. It is not too late to change the road you're on.

 

 

Wycliffe (8/27/01)

6:12

In Christ we have the power to dethrone sin in our lives.

6:13

When sin reigns, we willingly hand over all our senses to its service. The time has come to turn those senses over to God, to be in His service. Having died with Christ, and been raised to new life with Him, we ought to dedicate ourselves to God just as wholly as we were previously dedicated to our sins. We are all actively employed in the service of one of these two: sin or God. Which is it?

6:14

We are free from the Law only inasmuch as it is no longer the means given us for salvation. It is not the thing that will qualify us in the end, but it is still binding upon us as the rule of life. (Gal 6:2 - Bear each other's burdens, so as to fulfill the Law of Christ. 1Co 9:21 - When amongst the lawless Gentiles, I act as a lawless Gentile, yet not without law, for I am under the law of Christ. So acting, I seek to win the lawless to Christ.) We have come under new ownership. We have become like the woman whose husband has died, and who has remarried. Our whole life has changed, and we cannot be indifferent to that which owned us before.

6:15

Paul begins a contrast between the results of our former life and our new, so as to make plain the incompatibility of the two modes. Should those under grace sin? No.

6:16

Why not? Because, whether still bound to sin, or now bound to Christ, either way we are bound, declared servants of the one we have chosen. As a servant, or slave, we must obey the one who is our master. And there can be but one. Allegiance to righteousness is a constant process.

6:17

We broke with our previous bondage. The obedience with which we responded to the Gospel doctrine was from the depths of our soul, bringing 'decisive change.'

6:18

We are become slaves to righteousness. We must understand this, that our relationship to righteousness is that of slave to master, of total and instant obedience.

6:19

The same abandon we showed in handing ourselves over to the practices of sin ought now to show in handing ourselves over to the active practice of righteousness, to holiness of life. "Holiness is the product of consecration to God."

6:20

When sin was our master, clearly righteousness was not.

6:21

What benefit did we have of our former master? It's only 'benefit' offered was death. Sin produces bad fruit, and only bad fruit. (Mt 7:16-20 - The fruit defines the plant. Good trees bear good fruit, and bad trees bad, nor can it be any other way. That which does not produce good fruit is cut away and burned. So you, too, will be known by your fruit. Ro 1:32 - The sinner knows that practices such as theirs deserve the death sentence, and yet they not only continue themselves, but encourage others to join them. Ro 7:5 - The passions that were active in us when we were in the flesh were working in us to bear fruit in death. 2Co 2:15-16 - We are a sacrifice to God among the saved and the perishing, which the latter, who are dying, will see only as death, but the former, who are alive, will see as life. 2Co 7:10 - That sorrow that comes from God will cause repentance leading to salvation, that which comes from the world will only produce death. 2Ti 1:10 - But through Christ has come revelation that death has been abolished, and life and immortality have been made available in the Gospel doctrine. Heb 2:14 - Christ became flesh, that through His death He could end the power of death, which the devil has so long used. 1Jn 5:16 - If you see a brother sinning in a fashion not lethal, pray that God will restore life to him, and He will do so. This is not required for those whose sin is unto death. Rev 2:11 - The overcomer will not be harmed by second death. Rev 20:6 - The second death has no power over those blessed and holy ones that are part of the first resurrection, who are priests of God and Christ, and who will share in the millennial reign. Rev 20:15 - Those whose names were not in the book of life were thrown into the lake of fire, Rev 21:8 - which is the second death, reserved for the unbelieving, the abominable, and the immoral - such as cowards, sorcerers, liars, and idolaters.)

6:22

Freedom from sin requires enslavement to God. There's no middle ground. This enslavement, though, bears immediate fruit (in consecration), and eternal fruit (in life).

6:23

Death is the wage paid to those who have been laboring hard to attain it (by sinning). Our transforming deliverance from sin, however, is a free gift of God to man, resulting in eternal life, a new life, the "fullness of life," found only in Christ our Lord. And He is our Lord, we have declared our loyalty and commitment to Him, and "His lordship extends to the manner of our living."

 

 

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown (8/28/01)

6:12

The body is the tool by which the sins of the heart become facts of life. This is no call to be cheered by the rapidly approaching end of the trials of life in this body, but a pointing up of the fact that sin is utterly unsuitable to those who are alive from the dead. It most certainly ought not to dominate us.

6:13

As we had yielded the members of our body to sin, so now we are called to yield all of ourselves to God because we who are alive from the dead call Him our rightful Master. The result of this total yielding is that our members will be given over to the works of righteousness. It is also to be noted that whereas our presenting of ourselves to sin is declared in the present tense - a habitual practice reflecting our unregenerate ways, the yielding of our lives to God is in the aorist tense - indicating a unique act having continuous consequences, an act once for all.

6:14

Being under the rule of grace, sin will not rule us. To be under the Law is to have that requirement of total obedience, failure of which is punishable by death. (Gal 3:10 - All who attempt justification by the works of the Law are cursed by it, for its declaration is that all that do not do all things required in the Law is cursed.) The power to fulfill the Law's requirements can only come through grace, and the Law does not speak of that grace, so that it in effect shuts everybody up in inability to comply. To be under grace is to be covered by the saving effect of Jesus Christ reigning in righteousness in us. (Ro 5:20-21 - The Law came to make sin all the more obviously sinful, but wherever the Law came, grace abounded even more, so that where sin had reigned in death, grace would come to reign through righteousness to eternal life in Jesus Christ our Lord.) In Him, we have been made the righteousness of God. Under the Law, sin was bound to dominate us, under grace it cannot possibly do so.

6:15

So, has grace given us permission to sin, since the curse has been lifted? This is but a restating of the question from v1, and the answer remains the same: absolutely not!

6:16

Isn't it obvious that you must obey the one you yield yourself to? (Jn 8:34 - It is a true saying that every person who commits sin is sin's slave.) That slavery must end in death. But bond service to righteousness must result in eternal obedience. (1Jn 2:27 - The anointing that you have of Him abides in you, so that you don't need another teacher. As His anointing teaches you all things, and is all true, and confirms all that you have been taught already, you abide in Him. 2Pe 2:18-19 - False teachers come with enticements aimed at the sensual flesh, trying to captivate those who have just barely escaped such a life. They promise freedom, but are themselves slaves to the corruption they serve. That sin has so overcome them shows clearly that they are enslaved to sin. Mt 6:24 - No man can serve two masters, for he will inevitably come to hate and despise one while loving and devoting himself to the other. It is impossible to serve both God and wealth.)

6:17

It is true that you used to serve sin. But God is to be praised that whereas you used to, you do so no more! (1Co 6:11 - You, too, were once great sinners, but you were washed, sanctified, and justified in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, and in the Holy Spirit of God. Eph 5:8 - You used to be darkness, but now you are light in the Lord, so walk as a child of light.) You not only received the doctrine that was taught, but obeyed it in action. You were poured like molten wax into the mold of the Gospel, and have been conformed to its message.

6:18

As we have been freed from sin's rule, we have willingly yielded ourselves into bond service to righteousness. (Ro 1:1 - Paul was a bond-servant of Christ Jesus, called and set apart.) Both before and after, our servitude is complete, but the master has changed. We are His property, with no independence, and no claim to rights.

6:19

Such life examples are offered because of the weakness of our spiritual understanding. As we look back upon how heartily we pursued our sinful ways before, we ought to be stimulated to pursue righteousness all the more heartily, so as to attain to sanctification. (2Th 2:13 - We are thankful that God has chosen you from the beginning for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and faith in the truth. 1Co 1:30 - It is by His doing that you are in Christ, who became wisdom and righteousness and sanctification and redemption to us. 1Pe 1:2 - It has come according to the Father's foreknowledge, by the sanctification of the Holy Spirit, in obedience to Jesus Christ, by whose blood we have been sprinkled. So may grace and peace be ours in full.)

6:20

Since no servant can serve two masters, your continued service to sin shows clearly that, whatever you may have thought to the contrary, you have yet to give any service to righteousness.

6:21

You have seen from your own experience what it is that sin brings to you. There is nothing in what it provides that you would not be ashamed to own now. The only permanent thing it offers is death, which can hardly be thought a benefit. We have moved beyond self-disgust, beyond remorse for our nature, to honest self-reproach for the dishonor we have shown toward God. (Rev 21:8 - All those unbelieving and cowardly, abominable murderers, immoral sorts, liars and idolaters and sorcerers will suffer the second death in the lake of fire.)

6:22

But you have been absolutely freed from sin, and come into absolute service to God. You have your fruit of holiness. It's not a should have, but a do have. You are now in service to a holy God, and your service consists of such acts of righteousness as contribute to that goal of sanctification. This progression leads to a conclusion of eternal life - completely free of the fall's effects, and completely perfected as acceptable and conformed to Him, welcomed into full and unveiled fellowship with God Almighty.

6:23

The wages of sin, the payment in kind, is death. Death is the pay for which the sinner has labored long and hard. Eternal life carries no such sense of being earned. It is purely and simply the gift of God, to which we can claim no entitlement. Knowing this gift, and its giver, we cannot but join in declaring Him worthy of all glory and dominion forever. (Rev 1:5-6 - He is faithful, the firstborn of the dead, ruler of kings, who loves us and freed us by His blood from our sins. He has made of us a kingdom of priests to God. To Him be glory and dominion forever. Amen.) The concept of sinning that grace may abound is the heart of Antinomianism - a slanderous falsehood abhorrent to every Christian mind, and abusive of that greatest of truths which is the Gospel. Christ's death is not just the payment of our penalty, but the death of sin itself in us. His resurrection is not simply the means of our acceptability with God, but a true resurrection in us to new life. These principles of death and life we ought to use to examine ourselves. The holy life of the true believer is the best means of refuting the charge that salvation by grace promotes a life of sin. As we yield ourselves as tools of righteousness, we will silence the foolishness of men. "We are set free from the law in order to keep it, and are brought graciously under servitude to the law in order to be free." When we served the law out of terror, we knew it impossible to keep. But grace has lifted us from this terror by its righteous promises, giving us the power and the freedom to be holy. As no greater change can come in the life of a man than that wrought by God's grace, our every thought and mention of that change ought to be accompanied by exuberant thanks unto our God. We should emulate the degree of effort in which we were once serving sin in our present service to righteousness. We ought to look upon the ends our sins were leading to, so as to stimulate us the more to seek service to God. Whenever we declare the Gospel before men, we place before them the same choice that was given Israel: death and curses, or life and blessings. (Dt 30:19-20 - Heaven and earth are called to witness your choice today. You have had both life and death, both blessing and curse, declared and explained to you, so make your choice. Choose life, that you and your descendants may live, loving the LORD, and obeying His voice; clinging to Him, that your days may be long in the land the LORD has given you.)

 

 

New Thoughts (8/29/01-8/31/01)

There is, as so often is the case, just an incredible amount of material worthy of chewing on, as I look back over these notes. To begin with, though, I want to follow a bit of a sidetrack from the JFB commentary. In the midst of all these reminders of our sinful past, of our less than holy present, of the eternal nature of our choices, it's good to see some reassurance that our end has already been determined. To that end, the collecting of these three verses into one place is a powerful, powerful encouragement:

2Th 2:13 - We are thankful that God has chosen you from the beginning for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and faith in the truth.
1Co 1:30 - It is by His doing that you are in Christ, who became wisdom and righteousness and sanctification and redemption to us.
1Pe 1:2 - It has come according to the Father's foreknowledge, by the sanctification of the Holy Spirit, in obedience to Jesus Christ, by whose blood we have been sprinkled. So may grace and peace be ours in full.

What blessed assurance for us! Chosen from the beginning! There was never a time when God hadn't determined that salvation would come to me. There was never a time when sanctification was a maybe. It is determined already in the mind of God that sanctification will come in full. And what sweet comfort that none of this depends upon my own abilities! Thank You, dear Lord, that You are the One who has obtained my salvation, that You are the One who has done all that was necessary, for You knew my weakness. You have ever and always known, as Abraham knew when he first made covenant with You, that we could not uphold our end of the agreement, that it would require Your assistance, Your grace, to bring us through. Salvation through sanctification, and that sanctification by the Holy Spirit. Thank God for that! How poorly I do at sanctifying myself. How impossible I find it to remember that I have been set apart unto my God. How I depend upon the Holy Spirit to constantly remind me, to ever catch me when I inevitably fall. Oh, but my faith is not in the sad evidence my eyes present, but in the truth my Lord has declared! I am being sanctified by the Holy Spirit. Though I would that the work were complete, though I cry out to know how far I have yet to go, I know it will be done, for it is Thy will. That sanctification can come only as we become obedient to Jesus Christ, and we cannot become obedient to Him, except God's grace be shed abroad in our lives in the Holy Spirit. His blood has cleansed us, and it has cleansed our works. His sacrifice has made it possible for us to pursue righteousness. His love has provided for our need, giving to us in the Holy Spirit a guide and power to follow after Him. And yet, we are sadly free, if we can call this freedom.

Were we free all along? Yes, but as Mr. Henry said, "freedom from righteousness is the worst kind of slavery." And there is only one way to be freed from that slavery. If we would be free from our slavery to sin, we must become enslaved to God. There can be no middle ground, no freedom from all mastery. Man will never be his own supreme end. This is the great lie of humanism, but in serving ourselves, we have done no more than continue our servitude to sin as our master, while denying what we do. Is there anybody who, with a true understanding of who they are and what they are like, would still deny that they sin? Is there any single soul out there who would be so bold as to claim they have never done anything of which they are now ashamed? Shame is the fruit of sin, it's stamp, it's 'proof of purchase,' if you will, and where we feel shame, we are feeling sin's effect. If we are feeling sin's effect, we are feeling sin, and where we feel sin, it has established a dominion. Yet, it must be borne in mind that it is not the temptation that is sinful. Temptation in this life is unavoidable. No, it's not the temptation, but the yielding to temptation that is our sin. And, lest we fool ourselves like the Pharisees did, remember that even before the body has acted, the heart has contemplated, and thus, there is already the sin of the heart. The body, in acting upon these pre-existing sins of thought, merely makes them fact in our life.

This is our sad state, even now. Even in this state of grace, we are all too prone to turn aside. We are no better than Israel at maintaining our course toward home. But we must be freed from this servitude to sin before we can serve God. Yet, we must know God's grace before we can even choose this change of ownership. We like to think we made the choice, but before we could choose, God had to free our mind, to renew us. Until that renewal came, we could only choose our continued sin. We were incapable of any other decision. We weren't coerced into making these choices, we followed after sin as willingly as a child will follow an ice cream truck. But, we have been freed from this! We have felt God's touch on our hearts, as He had decided long ago we would. And, freed of our blindness regarding righteousness, we have seen that it is a far better thing, that He is a far better Master, and far more deserving of our every attention. So, we have just as freely thrown our lot with Him. We have cheerfully handed ourselves over to Him to serve Him. There can be no thought of continuing service to our prior owner, any more than the ballplayer can continue service to his old club after he's been traded. We are required to obey our new Master. He has told us we must be righteous, and so we must be. We have yielded ourselves to Him willingly, but in that, He is no less our absolute Master. And His eye is ever on the upright.

Mr. Henry reminds us of a powerful fact, easily confirmed in our daily experience. Every habit starts with one act. It only takes one sinful act to begin building a habitual sin, each act that follows upon that original will only strengthen and establish the habit. It is no different with sanctification and holiness. It only takes one righteous act to begin building a habitual holiness, and each subsequent choosing to be holy will serve to establish that habit. As we practice holiness, we will find that each successive act of righteousness will make the next one easier, each act of obedience to God will increase our willingness to obey His next call. It worked with sin, didn't it? Don't we all have ample evidence of that in our lives? The "oh, just once won't hurt anything" mentality over and over proves itself false in our experience (although that never seems to stop us from swallowing that line next time.) Why would we think it would be any different in our experience of serving God? As we come to serve Him more and more, yet He allows us our memory of who we were before He called us out. Why? So that we will remain humble, so that we will never forget how God picked us up out of our muck and cleaned us off. And, I'll suggest that it is also so that, as we recognize that our sanctification is an incomplete thing, yet, we'll not loose hope. For, we will ever be able to look behind and see how far He has brought us, when looking forward seems to show nothing but distant horizons. And, this thought God will keep planted in our considerations, to help us in our struggle against temptation: However pleasant that sin may seem, however sweetly its rewards may be presented, remember that the true and most final result of that sin is still death. Remember, and choose life.

So then, where is hope for us? We look and see that in spite of all this, we are ever slipping, ever failing in our desire to obey. We look at this passage, where Paul has declared it unthinkable that we would continue in sin, and yet we feel we are doing just that. But, what is it that has happened in our lives? Christ has died for us. And in this, He did not simply pay our debt, He did not solely provide for the demands of justice, but He put sin itself to death in us! That's the reality of our renewed life! Look back over these verses: It does not say that we will have our fruit of holiness, it does not say that we ought to have that fruit in our lives. It says we DO! It's a done deal. We have been made free from sin's hold upon us. We have a choice, such as we never had before, to say no, to walk away. Would that I could say we are forced to walk away, but that's not the way of it. Yet, it's true, that, as Mr. Clarke says, "being made free from sin is the finished character of a genuine Christian." Perhaps what he has missed is when that finished character will come. Oh, I long for that finished character now. I would that God would just BOOM! change me once for all. And after a fashion, He has done just that. But, in His wisdom, He has decided I must walk toward that goal, not walk in it. He has melted me like wax, or like metal, and poured me into the mold of His gospel. He has put His stamp upon my life, molded me after His image, and according to His purpose. I'm forever grateful to You, oh Lord, that You have so molded me, that You have so marked me indelibly as Your own possession. I only pray that You would continually empower me to draw closer and closer to the standard that You have set for my life, that You would work in me to lessen the power of temptation to weaken this flesh, that You would strengthen by Your Spirit, my spirit within me to follow hard after You.

We are His property, with no independence, and no claim to rights. What we do have is a call. And, as servants, we are obliged to be both attentive and responsive to that call. What has He asked of us? Here we have been reminded that the call is to holiness. And yet, we are constantly reminded of our inability to comply to that call. We are reminded that the Law remains law to us, no less binding upon our lives and lifestyles than it was for those who followed Moses through the wilderness. It is the curse of the Law, and only the curse of the Law that has been removed from us. The observance of that Law remains an obligation, although it no longer provides for us the means of justification. Part of what the Law requires is our sacrifices. I know, Jesus paid the sacrifice for our sins once and for all at Calvary. Yet, not all sacrifices were for sin. Many were thanks offerings, recognition of God's providence toward us. What sacrifice are we now called to offer? Romans 12:1 gives us a good idea: Present yourselves as living and holy sacrifices, such as are acceptable to God. But, as Mr. Henry points out, we must work to ensure that our sacrifices are truly holy, are truly acceptable to Him. To present Him with a dead carcass is not worship, but insult. How dare we come before Him unrepentant, walking straight from our sinful ways into His very house? How dare we claim that the offering we make of ourselves in that fashion is holy and acceptable? Christ told us to take up our cross and follow, not to take back our filth and wallow!

But, lest we give up hope, lest we return to thinking ourselves beyond redemption, I remind us, remind myself, that Christ's atoning work washed not just our bodies, not just our sinful past, but also acted to purify our works. The failure of Mosaic Law was in its dependence upon man to comply. That dependence is taken away, and now man is left to comply to the best of his ability, knowing it will never suffice in itself, but also knowing that Jesus Christ is our great Mediator, cleaning up our works, washing our sacrifices, so that they may truly be holy and acceptable when they are presented at the throne of God. The Law still obliges us, but it is an obligation of love, rather than threat. It is because we love the Author of that Law, that we seek to our utmost ability to follow the Law. Truly, it is now engraved upon our hearts, even as He had promised beforehand. It is no longer some dusty, inexplicable rule passed down by our parents, but it is a living, guiding principle within, the substance of our being, the purpose of our every effort. It is the cry of our heart that we might come closer each day to the ideal that God has revealed to us in His word. It is the source of tears and anguish that we know ourselves still incapable of complete submission. It is our constant prayer that He continually work in and through us to bring that complete submission and obedience. And it is our great source of relief that He washes us daily until that completeness comes.

Where sin gave only the minimum wage due the soldier, only paid what it must pay, we have the rich blessings that are given the child. Sin paid only what it must to retain the services of its slaves, to keep them from running away. Just enough enticement to keep us from seeing the death that lay at the end of the road. But in Christ, we have been adopted into the very family of God, Him from whom comes every good and perfect gift. Now, we not only share in those things with which He blesses all alike, but we share in the special presents that are reserved for His own. We are blessed to know and understand His Word. We are blessed to have the Holy Spirit as company, instructor, mentor. We are blessed to know Christ as our brother, and as our Mediator. And, most wonderful of gifts, we are blessed to know that we will have eternal life, with full vision of God. No longer, the impression, not even the glimpse of His backside that was allowed Moses, but full vision! As we know, none can see His face and live, so how is it we will both see Him, and have eternal life? The answer lies in recognizing why it was death to see His face. It was death because He is holy, and in His holiness, He cannot abide with sin. Being that He is omnipotent, if one must go, it will be sin. Here, then, is a great and marvelous gift from our Father! We will be holy as He is holy. The wish, the desire, will be the reality! The daily struggle, the pain of knowing ourselves impure, will end, and we will see Him as He is, for we will be like Him. That, my friends, is a better gift than all the other gifts we will know in our lifetime.

Once, we were fully submerged in sin. We neither knew of nor cared for anything else. Righteousness was as meaningless to us as a symphony to a deaf man. It is only right and reasonable that we should now, having come to know the better way of righteousness, be equally impervious to the call of sin. We ought to be as totally sanctified now as we were totally depraved before. Thanks be to God in Christ Jesus our life has been changed, and that most thoroughly! But, having been changed, having been traded to the winning team, if you like, we cannot be impartial to our prior owner. Examples abound in life. Look at your own history of employment. Of what past employer would you claim a total indifference now? Depending upon the circumstances of your departure, you doubtless look back either with a certain spitefulness mixed with thankfulness that you are no longer there, or with a wistful view to what was a wonderful experience. What relationships have you come away from, that you would claim to be unaffected by? There will either be hurt or hunger, pain or longing. We never leave our friends or family behind without feeling something. It is the same with sin and sin's master. We served him long and wholeheartedly. We eventually came to ours senses, and realized that the work was not as rewarding as we once thought, the relationship was so one-sided, we gained nothing materially or emotionally for all our efforts, but only lost. We must take from this past experience a total loathing for him who once ruled over us, and for every attempt he makes to win us back. Our entire being ought to be, must be devoted to God. Every fiber of our being must be given over to Him. We've heard the doctrine. We've been taught the ways of holiness. We understand what it means to be sanctified, to walk as Aaron walked, with the legend emblazoned on our chest for all to see: "Holy unto the LORD." We know all this. Now, as true believers, our practice must connect with that doctrine to which we have been formed. The wax and metal of our lives must take on the imprint of the Master's mold. And it does. It will. What God has declared one, no man may separate. And He has declared us one with Him. He has not declared it will be easy. In our profession, in our baptism, in our every participation in Christ's church, we declare our allegiance to righteousness. It is not a declaration made once, and then assumed for life, any more than "I love you" was sufficient the first time, requiring no further evidence for the duration of the marriage. Allegiance to righteousness is a constant process, a constant declaring, and a constant striving to show evidence of that righteousness in us.

Finally, a note regarding our efforts at evangelism. This has become a stronger focus in our church of late, for which God is to be praised! But, as we bring that Gospel into that city, as we declare it before man, woman, and child, we need to make clear to them just what is at stake. As we declare God's redemption to them, we remove the last vestige of excuse behind which they can attempt to hide (not that any excuse will serve in the end). We place before them the same choice that was given to Israel, that of life or death, curses or blessings. The severity of the choice must be presented faithfully (after all, we need the reminder ourselves, from time to time). As the song says, "There's still time to change the road you're on." How the world needs to know the truth behind that line. The choice remains, and either way you choose, the result is an eternal, never ending result. It's not too late, but one day it will be. And, as Hebrews 2:3 reminds us: if we neglect this salvation that has been given us, how, then, will we ever escape?) As your conscience may answer this question before God, so direct your actions. It's not too late. Yet.