The grace of God: Romans part 8

What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid.

 Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness? But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you.

 Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness. I speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your flesh: for as ye have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity; even so now yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness. For when ye were the servants of sin, ye were free from righteousness.

 What fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life.

 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Romans 6:15-23

At first glance it would seem that the question asked in verse fifteen of Romans chapter six is a repetition of verse one. If we take a closer look we see they are quite different.

The question of verse one asks the believer if we can continue in “the sin” since the power in grace is greater than the destruction of “the sin”. The difference between sins and “the sin” is this: “the sin” is the source while sins are the result.

“The sin” occurred when Adam rejected YHWH as his maker and life. He chooses instead of complete fellowship with the Father to become a self. Deciding to be his own maker and make his own life. Sins are the self-generated acts by which man attempts to reach Adams goal.

Pauls witness to us is that we who have placed our trust in the Fathers grace have through Messiah’s death put to death this rebellious desire. We have instead placed our trust in YHWH as our maker and source; fully expecting His life in us to be the generation of our living and acts.

The law teaches us what YHWH’s life generating our living looks like. The old man inherited from Adam who is trying to attain to life through his own generation is under the standard set by the law; under the law. The new man of faith in the Father and His messiah is receiving the gift of life manifested in his being; under grace.

 The relationship of the law is quite different for the old and new man. The old man finds it is an unwavering judge of the absence of life within him and a reminder of the death that shall be the culmination of all his efforts. The new man sees it teaching him the fullness of the result of the promise he has placed his trust in. The Law is for those who trust the Father as their maker is an illumination of what the Father is making them to be.

Paul ask us since we are no longer trying to obtain to the law as a standard do we continue in the acts of selfishness from which we have been set free. The self is separate from the fellowship of YHWH’s life and is therefore dead. When we experience this then we know that every self-generated act can only bring us to that death.

We yielded the actions of our members to bring forth our own selfish acts when our trust was placed in us as our own maker. Since our trust is now placed in the Father then we now should yield the actions of our members to that which He is making us.

The old man from Adam thinks to change himself by the things he does. This is blindness; for a man cannot generate from himself anything but what he already is. When the Father opens our eyes we see that the life of the Father made living in us changes who we are and thereby the things we do. “The obedience” is to turn from our own dead works and have faith (trust, dependence, and expectation) in the Father as our maker and only source.

The payoff for the constant work of trying to make oneself is to become a self; alone with no fellowship, separated from all, in short death. In contrast the gift given by YHWH through Messiah is to be one with the creator of all seen and unseen; brought into a complete fellowship having no separation between the Father and us, in short eternal life.

I and my Father are one.

Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

 If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him. Philip saith unto him, Lord, show us the Father, and it sufficeth us. Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Show us the Father? Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works. Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me

That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one: I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.

And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.

Deuteronomy 30:19 20 “… I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live, loving the LORD your God, obeying his voice and holding fast to him, for he is your life…

 

The nature of God's life: Romans part 7

What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?

God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein? Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?

Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection: knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin; for he that is dead is freed from sin.

Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him: knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him. For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God.

Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God. For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.

What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid. ROMANS 6:1-15

Years ago I was in Guatemala. I flew into the capital in the mountains and took a bus down to the coast. It was a memorable ride; on one side was an unforgiving rock face and on the other was a dizzying drop. If we left the road in either direction it would mean certain death.

In a similar fashion the way of life witnessed to us in the scriptures is more often than not presented to us in two equal truths that if either one is ignored could mean our death. We have a perfect example of that of which I speak found in the witness of Paul in Romans chapter six.

Paul started by establishing that all men Jew and gentile believer as well as all unbelievers are relegated to death by their very nature of sinfulness. The self given by Adam at the core of every motive and action showing forth the death we all inherited from him. The hopelessness of this situation is not comparable to the hope of glory given to those who place their full trust, dependence,and expectation in the redemption of the Father found in Messiah.

The fulfilled promise of life is so much greater than the death of the fall. It is like light and dark. We allow ourself to think of them as opposing forces but in truth darkness only exist where there is no light present; when light is present darkness is shown to be an immaterial illusion. Paul has shown that though this darkness of death is found in all mens heart the gift of life through the obedience of Yeshua the Messiah is a power that overcomes the penalty and power of sin to a degree that is beyond comparison.

Embracing this truth provides for such a release of our burdens that our eyes become open to the fact that our failures can never overcome the success of the Fathers redemption in Messiah. We see that the wrath poured on our Saviour was complete and that for YHWH to place His wrath upon a believer would mean that what was upon Yeshua was not sufficient. Without the equal truth of our need for holiness and righteousness in our living; we might well come to the conclusion that our sins do not matter. We could fall victim to the idea that if we trust in what He has done then our own actions are of no consequence in YHWH's eyes. While it is true that our Father desires to change who we are not simply what we do; it is equally true that what we do is a reflection of who we are.

Paul builds an undeniable case that far exceeds the thought of our actions do not matter if we are in grace. He shows that the effect of being in grace is a change so magnificent that to continue in our old conduct is impossible. Paul ask a simple question, in the Greek it reads, do we continue in the sin that grace may abound. It is not the acts of sinfulness he refers to but the first sin. When Adam chose to trust in his own self to provide life.

Paul ask the believer; do you not understand that the witness of water baptism is a token of our true baptism into death by our being made one with Messiah. When Yeshua died and was buried we also died and where buried. This being true when the Father breathed His life into Messiah and raised Him from death all of us who are in Him where raised also into the shared life of the Father.

The old man born from Adam was crucified with Yeshua that the sin of the self generated life would be destroyed in a shared death. In this shared death we are made free from the slavery of our sinfulness from the self generated life.

To paraphrase Paul... do the math. If the old mans self generated life is dead through our fellowship with Messiah and by such its sinful nature then our new God generated life also has a new nature of righteousness. So is it possible to live in grace and not have our actions be according to the nature of our new life.

Every tree bearing fruit after its kind:Romans part 6

Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: by whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; and patience, experience; and experience, hope:  And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.

 For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

 Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.  For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement.

 Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned: (For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law. Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come.

But not as the offence, so also is the free gift. For if through the offence of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many.  And not as it was by one that sinned, so is the gift: for the judgment was by one to condemnation, but the free gift is of many offences unto justification.

 For if by one man's offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.) Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life. For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.

 Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound:  that as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord. Romans 5

 

Chapter and verses are useful tools but we must remember they are additions and as additions we must be careful these separations do not influence interpretation and perception. The end of chapter four says He was raised for our justification. The next statement that we are justified by faith is one thought.

This word translated justified is in other places translated righteousness. As we have said before; these are not a credit for a future event but recognition of a tangible change that is being revealed in us. The old man is crucified in Messiah (not some future event) and as such happens when we stand in the faith. The new life comes in the resurrection of Messiah (not some future event) but as we trust the promise is the truth. As Paul has said “it is no longer I that live, but Messiah lives through me.”

The Father’s grace is often confused with mercy, long suffering, and forgiveness. Yet grace is in truth the promise fulfilled; some may ask what promise? The first promise, the one which every other promise comes from, that we who were made to live in Adam when YHWH breathed His life into him and died in Adam when he chose to be a self would be redeemed back to the shared life of YHWH.

We stand in this gift of life with full expectation of seeing our Fathers glory manifested in us by His making of us to be one with Him. We find glory even in our struggles. The echoes of the old man; the strongholds of his death in us show forth in us the power of the Fathers grace as He renews our mind writing His law in our heart and mind. Our Father is not simply expecting us to act different but instead He shows us to expect Him to make us different; a new creation.

If we are struggling to crucify the old man or striving to live in the new life then we will only meet with failure and heartache. Adam was given the power to choose what He desired whether to trust YHWH as his maker or himself. Adam did not by his own ability make himself a living soul. We who after the flesh where born of Adam cannot by our own ability make ourselves have life but we do have the choice to trust God as our maker or ourselves.

Paul now will give us the most profound exposition of truth that has ever been recorded. Many commentators have used Romans as a place to tell the difference between the unredeemed and the redeemed. However that which Paul gives us is the story of our own redemption not from an outward enemy but from our old man. The foundation he now lays will guide us in the coming explanation of the battle between the flesh which came from Adam and the new life of the Spirit from our Father.

In Adam we have all died from his sin. We tend to think it was sin that we inherited but in truth it was death. Sin is a fruit but death is the tree. The tree makes the fruit the fruit contains the seed of the tree. Every tree produces after its own kind. So it is that when Adam sinned he became a tree of death and his fruit (all mankind) was born with that death within them. We see this fruit of sin coming forth on our own branches but picking off the fruit does not change the tree.

Paul concludes that even without breaking a spoken command from YHWH the death ruled over all men. The death in Adam is passing death into all who were born from him. Messiah took our death on himself that we as one with Him might pass away. He was made one with us in death so we also are made one with Him; being born into His life. Life in Messiah living in all who believe, trust relies, depend, and expect in Him.

The law was given that we would see the depth of the death in us; to the end that all trust in ourselves as our maker would be shown as false. With the loss of trust in us comes the availability of a trust in Him. We are saved from the grave of what we bring forth that the power of the gift of the Fathers life in us would bring righteousness beyond man’s work of doing. We find that His life in us is manifested as we trust Him to make us as He is. It is in Him that we move and breathe and have our very being; an unfailing life that is not subject to the failings of man.

Faith and law understanding which one produces the other: Romans part 5

What shall we say then that Abraham our father, as pertaining to the flesh, hath found? For if Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof to glory; but not before God. For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness.

Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt. But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.

 Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works, saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin.

Cometh this blessedness then upon the circumcision only, or upon the uncircumcision also? for we say that faith was reckoned to Abraham for righteousness. How was it then reckoned? when he was in circumcision, or in uncircumcision? Not in circumcision, but in uncircumcision.

And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had yet being uncircumcised: that he might be the father of all them that believe, though they be not circumcised; that righteousness might be imputed unto them also:  And the father of circumcision to them who are not of the circumcision only, but who also walk in the steps of that faith of our father Abraham, which he had being yet uncircumcised. For the promise, that he should be the heir of the world, was not to Abraham, or to his seed, through the law, but through the righteousness of faith. For if they which are of the law be heirs, faith is made void, and the promise made of none effect: Because the law worketh wrath: for where no law is, there is no transgression.

Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace; to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed; not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham; who is the father of us all, (As it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations,) before him whom he believed, even God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were.

Who against hope believed in hope, that he might become the father of many nations, according to that which was spoken, so shall thy seed be. And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead, when he was about an hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sarah's womb: He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God; and being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform. And therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness.

Now it was not written for his sake alone, that it was imputed to him; but for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead; who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification. Romans 4

Paul asks believers to consider Abraham as the physical father of the Jewish people. He asks the question did Abraham possess righteousness by his own efforts. Perhaps by men’s comparison Abraham was obedient but not by comparison to the Holiness of YWHW. The scriptures state plainly that it is by the faith of Abraham that he was made righteous.

It is of great importance that we understand the difference between a credit for a thing and a gift. The modern church thinks of righteousness as a credit given by God; this makes a case of God bearing a false witness by declaring us righteous when we will never be. God forbid we believe such a lie. The gift of God is to change who we are and make us to be as He is. This righteousness is real and tangible and comes from Messiah living in and through us as one. The more we come to trust him the more we let go of us and thereby His righteousness becomes revealed in us. So we receive this righteousness when we repent o dead works( the renewed heart), then as our trust and belief is stripped from ourselves and placed in Him(the renewed mind and tearing down of strongholds), there will come a time when this is complete and we are one with Him a shared nature. YHWH looking to this fruition calls what is not now what it shall be. The idea that God calls what is not righteous ;  to be what it not  is simply blasphemy.

Some may say but the scripture say He calls what is not what is; I agree for YHWH calls us what we are becoming not what it is in an unfinished work. He is both author and finisher of our faith and not only this but He who began a good work in us will keep that which is entrusted to Him.

This brings us to understand what Abraham found. When he attempted to reveal YHWH’s promises in his life by his own ways and plans and effort he could not attain to the promises but only failure. However when he instead gave up on what he could or could not do and trusted in YHWH to do the work in him then the results of fulfilled promises where seen in his life.

Paul points out to them who believe that righteousness can be brought by effort to act in the way the law describes; that the law did not bring the righteousness or covenant of Abraham. Instead it is obvious that the law as a description of the way of life was brought forth from this covenant. So it is that Abraham was uncircumcised when he received the covenant and by said covenant the token of circumcision was given.

Circumcision did not bring forth the covenant but the covenant brought forth circumcision. In the same way the working of the righteousness found described by the law does not bring faith but instead faith will bring the righteousness into our lives. It is not our actions that bring life but it is the Fathers life in us that brings forth a nature that makes our actions become righteous.

If by our effort we could live a life that was pleasing to our Father then there would be no need to depend on our Father to give us that life.

This giving of righteousness was not for Abraham alone but to all who believe. If we trust that our old person received from the nature of Adam is crucified in Messiah then we are also raised by the same power that raised Messiah from death…the breath (Spirit, life) of the Father. Lazarus could not call himself forth from death and neither can we. Instead as Yeshua trusted the Father to raise Him up so we trust we will be raised in Him.