The New Testament is divided into three parts: the four Gospels- Matthew Mark, Luke, and John, the 22 Epistles, and finally the Prophetic book of Revelations for a total of 27 books. The word Epistle is Greek for “letter” as in a correspondence. The only difference between an epistle and a letter is that a letter is written to an individual, whereas an epistle is written to a group of people. Most of the epistles of the New Testament were written to the various churches at that time and were passed from church to church.
The original epistles were long letters. To make the reading easier, the letters were broken up into chapters in the early 1200s, whereas the verses were added in the mid-1500s. The point I want to make is that while God inspired the entire Bible, the placement of the chapters and verses were man’s invention to make reading the Bible easier. I say all of this to make the point that it is important to read and understand the chapters and verses in context. To get the full understanding of what God intended, you must read what goes before and after the chapters. Show More
We have been looking at the book of Romans, which the Apostle Paul wrote We need to understand that the entire book was actually a single letter or epistle. The natural tendency is to begin at the beginning of a chapter and then read to the end of the chapter as if it were a single letter, but a chapter is just part of a letter. Keep in mind that all of the scriptures are made available to us because of God’s great love for us.
So far, we have looked at Romans Chapter 5 (Episodes/Posts 114 – 115), which dealt with grace, righteousness, and justification. Romans 4 (Episodes/Posts 116 – 117) examined the importance of faith in receiving the grace of God in Jesus Christ. Again, never lose sight of God’s love for you as you read and study the scriptures.
Today we will look at Romans 6, which deals with the difficult challenge of living a righteous life in the world today. There are two crucial issues in Romans 6 for the Believer, the first is the concept of “being dead to sin,” the second is the idea that “who you obey is master over you!”
Let’s look at the first issue, being dead to sin.
The first verse in Romans 6 states, “What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound?” This statement only makes sense if we look at the end of Romans 5, “But where sin abounded, grace abounded much more.” The Apostle Paul was trying to avoid a false idea that the more one sinned, the more grace would abound or that it was ok to sin because grace was available. However, when we read the end of chapter 5 and the beginning of chapter 6 together, it makes sense, “5:20 Moreover the law entered that the offense might abound. But where sin abounded, grace abounded much more, 21 so that as sin reigned in death, even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. 6:1 What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? 2 Certainly not (or of course not)! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?
Here the principle of being dead to sin is introduced. You must choose to see yourself as dead to sin. If you are dead to sin, then sin can’t have any control over you! Before you knew Christ, you did not have the Holy Spirit to guide you. The Holy Spirit makes the Bible, the Word of God, come alive and have meaning for you. The Holy Spirit also battles with the flesh to lead you into righteousness instead of sin, but you must make choices every step of the way. Remember 2 Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” The spiritual reality is that the “old you” is dead, and you are now alive in Jesus Christ. Romans 6 says, “Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? 4 Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.”
Let’s jump to Romans 6, beginning in verse 12. We’re told that we have to decide to make sure that sin doesn’t control our bodies and that we don’t find ourselves in situations and circumstances that will lead to unrighteousness or sin. We must choose to present ourselves to God as being alive from the dead and our actions and words reflect the righteousness of God. Because we’re given this promise in verse 14, sin will not have dominion over us because we’re not under Law (legalism) but under Grace (relationship). In other words, we don’t have to let sin control us. God is at work in you to desire and to empower you to please the Lord, which means dying to sin. (Philippians 2:13) Because of the Holy Spirit in us, we can always choose to say and do the right thing as difficult it may seem in the beginning.
The second issue in Romans 6 is the issue of who has control over your life?
You can serve the Lord, or you can serve the “flesh.” The flesh, in this case, are the natural urges of humankind, the philosophies of the world. The flesh also includes as the hurtful habits or ways of thinking, that we have learned, that are contrary to the will of God. Listen to what Romans 8 tells us about the flesh and Spirit, “5 For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. 6 For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. 7 Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. 8 So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God.”
Paul makes this major point in Romans 6:16, “Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one’s slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness?”The brutal truth is that Satan wants to enslave you into doing his will. Satan’s desire is to steal, kill and destroy, but the Lord’s purpose is that you would serve the Lord and experience the abundant life! (John 10:10) A life filled with love, peace, and joy.
Finally, Romans 6:23 ends with a verse that we should all memorize, “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
The Benefits of Grace.
The benefits of grace, righteousness, and faith only apply to a believer in Jesus Christ. A true believer is one who has accepted Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior! Now, what does the phrase “Lord and Savior” mean? Let’s take the word Savior first. Accepting Jesus as Savior means that you believe that Jesus died for your sins and rose again to be alive with the Father in Heaven. In other words, your place in Heaven is assured, and your confidence is in Jesus that you will rise again. Death has no “sting” which means we don’t fear death. Don’t get me wrong, we are all human, and we naturally don’t look forward to death, but death doesn’t produce terror because we know that no matter what happens, our destination is Heaven. We have peace with God!
The word Lord, in Lord and Savior, means that we voluntarily submit to Jesus as our King. As our King, we do all that is in our power to obey Him and His teachings. Now, we don’t have the strength or power to obey the Lord in our own natural strength and ability; as much as we try, we always fall short. However, Jesus in His wisdom gave us the Holy Spirit to help, comfort, teach and guide us in overcoming the attractions of the flesh and the world! Every true believer has the Holy Spirit, whether they believe it or not. It is a matter of learning to discern His voice and then to obey.
I’ve been using the term “true believer” as one who is truly redeemed or saved. How does one become a true believer, Romans 10:5-13 says it best:
Then starting in Romans 10:8, But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith which we preach): 9 that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. 11 For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.” 12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him. 13 For “whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved.”
True faith is a Commitment, not just a Statement!
Calling on the Lord means that you have confessed with your mouth and believed in your heart that God raised Jesus from the dead. Confessing with your mouth is that act of repentance, recognizing that your sin has separated you from God and that you truly want to see that relationship restored. Believing in your heart is that act of commitment to follow Jesus wherever he may take you! It’s not enough to just say the words the words must be followed up with the desire to follow Jesus.
For some people fulfilling the commitment to Jesus is easier than for others. All of us have different backgrounds and “baggage” to overcome in life. We are not to judge the progress of another Christian as long as they are moving forward in their relationship with Jesus Christ. We should be encouraging them. As in all things in life, when you encounter something new, there is a learning curve, that process where you take baby steps in the beginning and then move forward into maturity. As one matures, they are able to take the greater steps that we often associate with a strong believer.
We should be thankful that God is patient, loving, merciful, and kind and he accepts us right where we are and brings us into places that we could never imagine. The Lord is gracious, his love boundless, and his desire is that you would walk with him, knowing that you are never alone because His Holy Spirit is with you leading and guiding you into the abundant life.