Set
Free From the Law of Sin and Death
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 behavior.
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.
rbt5@cox.net
http://www.wor.org
Church: (760) 747-8325
Fax: (760) 747-0416
Dr. Thompson has finished a book entitled Heaven—God's Wonderful World. It was written to comfort terminally ill children and their parents,
and anyone who may be afraid of death.