What Should We do Now?

1^st Peter 3:20-4:11

Introduction:

We have been studying through 1^st Peter; last week I inadvertently stepped back an entire chapter, and taught on the end of chapter 2, again, where we saw that the believer is “Dead to Sin and Alive to God.” It was not intentional and I was pretty confused, as you may recall, when I discovered that I had studied the “wrong” chapter! But it turned out well, because it actually laid a good foundation for today’s message! (Today, we are in chapter three!)

How is the Genesis Flood a “picture of Baptism?”

In verses 18-20, Peter reminded us that Jesus, in the person of the Holy Spirit (also referred to as “the Spirit of Christ” in 1^st Peter 1:11) went and preached through Noah, to the people of Noah’s day, who rebelled against the message Noah preached. And they have been in hades ever since the Flood, awaiting final judgment. But the initial judgment, which separated Noah from the World, and the World from him, was the Flood. And Peter confirms that in some way, the Flood is a picture of Baptism.

3:21, 22

²¹The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ: ²²Who is gone into heaven, and is on the right hand of God; angels and authorities and powers being made subject unto him.

What Baptism?

Our automatic assumption is that the “water” of the Flood is a foreshadowing of the “water”of water baptism. This is flawed thinking, though: We have already seen that water baptism is only a “picture” of the real baptism (1^st Corinthians 12:13) which is the fact of the believer being placed into the Body of Christ by the Holy Spirit. We also saw (in our Wednesday night Bible Study) that anyone can receive water baptism, and, if they are an unbeliever, all they get out of it is a soaking and possibly a false sense of security, thinking that “baptism saved me!” (Possibly even because of this passage!) But only a believer receives the Baptism by the Holy Spirit, and it happens at the moment of faith, resulting in the New Birth!

Remember, now, that the Flood permanently “separated” Noah and his family from the rest of the World’s population, and “separated” all of them, not only from Noah, but from their own physical bodies. We call that particular separation “Physical death.” Sadly, they had also been unbelievers, spiritually separated from God, so they were eternally lost, and now they face eternal separation from God in the lake of fire, which is called the “Second death” in Revelation 20:14.

So, if this really is a “picture of baptism,” (and God says it is!) then we need to ask, which kind of baptism would it most closely match? Does “water baptism” separate you from the world? No, because any unbeliever can be baptized…and it has zero spiritual effect on him/her. In fact, water baptism has no “spiritual effect” at all, in terms of salvation. It does mark a “step of obedience,” in a new believer’s life. And, in some cultures, that step of obedience will permanently separate the believer from their own society, because that society recognizes baptism as a public declaration that the believer is permanently identified with Christ. And that is true, outwardly.

But in reality, if the person was not already a believer, and already permanently identified with Christ, by the “real” baptism (the Baptism by the Holy Spirit into the Body of Christ) then the water baptism is simply a lie…the person is publicly “declaring something to have happened” that has not happened!

So, what kind of Baptism saves us? The Real one! The moment that you believed the Gospel, placing your dependence upon the blood of Jesus for your salvation, the Holy Spirit placed you into the Body of Christ. This is the “real” baptism, and it is a permanent transaction: Jesus said (John 6:37) “…He that cometh unto Me, I will in no wise cast out!”

So, the same separation that put Noah on the inside of the Ark and the unbelieving World on the outside, is accomplished in us by the Holy Spirit. The “door behind us” is closed, just as it was for Noah—we cannot leave. But it is still open to anyone who will enter in by faith. Unlike Noah’s day, it is not too late to be saved…yet. That door will close, someday.

For those of us who have entered in, Jesus says we have been washed and we stand before Him clean: He no longer sees us as guilty sinners. Jesus said in John 15:3, “Now ye are clean through the Word which I have spoken unto you” And, in 1^st Corinthians 6:11, Paul reiterated this, saying, “And such were some of you: but ye are washed (you are clean!), but ye are sanctified (you are holy!, but ye are justified (you have been declared righteous!) in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.” (The “filth of the Flesh” has been put away, positionally: see Ephesians 4:22)

The fact is, Water Baptism cannot accomplish any of those things! So that is not what this verse is talking about. Only the Baptism by the Holy Spirit into the Body of Christ accomplishes all these things. And, best of all, we don’t have to seek it, we don’t have to pray for it, or wait for it, or anything else! The moment you believed, whether you knew it or not, all these things happened in your life! And, until Acts chapter 2, it hadn’t happened to anyone before; but now it happens to every single believer! (Romans 8:9 says that if you don’t have the Spirit of God living in you, you aren’t His child. It’s a good thing we don’t have to do anything to gain this blessing. This is strictly positional truth. If you are in Christ, you have the Holy Spirit living in you, whether you know it or not!) That’s Good News!

What Should We do Now?

4:1-11

¹ Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind: for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin; ²That he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh to the lusts of men, but to the will of God.

We talked about this idea last week: the fact that we are dead to sin, and alive to God! Jesus took our place under the wrath of God, so that, as our representative, He literally “died in our place.” And, according to God’s Law, that means we are dead! God’s justice has been satisfied; the price has been paid. The Law no longer calls for my death, because it now sees me as having died with Christ! The argument, here (and throughout the rest of the New Testament) is that because I am dead with Him, and resurrected with Him, and since I am thereby free to “walk in the newness of life” with Him, I need to get on with it, and do just that!

³For the time past of our life may suffice us to have wrought the will of the Gentiles, when we walked in lasciviousness, lusts, excess of wine, revellings, banquetings, and abominable idolatries:

Notice that he says we all originally had our roots in the World. He also says, that our background there should be enough of that—it should suffice! We have already done the things the World expected, to one degree or another. We don’t need to “go back for more.” Even now, we still live “in” the World, but God says we are no longer “of” the World. So, all the things that once were common in most people’s lives (to one degree or another) are no longer “normal behavior” for us. (Perhaps you think that you “don’t fit” in this short list. There is a much more comprehensive “list” in Romans 1:18-32, and I can guarantee you will find yourself there!)

⁴Wherein they think it strange that ye run not with them to the same excess of riot, speaking evil of you: ⁵Who shall give account to him that is ready to judge the quick and the dead.

And how does the World see us now? We are the oddballs! They see us as “strange” and they say bad things about us because of our new position. This reaction is not limited to faith in Christ: at my work there was a national certification (Certified Welding Inspector…CWI) which was available to welding inspectors, but the inspection department at work scorned it, for some reason. So every time an individual inspector chose to study and prepare, and pay over $1,000 out of their own pocket to take that exam—a very difficult test—they were rejected by the other inspectors! They were accused of thinking they were “better” than the others! They were harassed until either they left the department or left the company!

That is a pretty sad thing, but it parallels how the World feels toward Christians: they say we are “goody two-shoes,” or that we act as if we are “holier-than-thou!” (Or other accusations: Hypocrites! Phonies! Etc.)

Verse five in the King James uses an old English word, “quick,” meaning “alive.” We still use the word “quick” in this way, but only in extremely limited context. If we cut our fingernails too short, so that they are sore, or even so that they bleed, we say “I accidently cut into the quick,” meaning, “I cut into the living flesh!” Or, if we are deeply hurt by someone else’s words, we might say, “I was cut to the quick by their words!” So, this passage says that those who falsely accuse believers will face the judgment of Him who judges “the living and the dead.” It has nothing to do with “fast reflexes,” though this verse is frequently misused to mean that, because, over the centuries, the meaning of the word has changed.

⁶For for this cause was the gospel preached (past tense) also to them that are (present tense) dead, that they might be judged (future tense) according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit.

I love seeing the “changing tenses” in verses like this: it lets me see that those who were dead (at that time Peter was writing, which was present tense) had received the Gospel earlier (past tense…looking back to verses 18-20, so, I would like to say it refers to the time of Noah) and that the result is that they will be judged (future tense.) However, it also specifies that whoever this refers to will be judged according to human judgment in the flesh, but (possibly meaning if they had responded in faith) they would live according to God in the Spirit. So that is a little strange, and it cannot refer back to Noah’s day. Those people lost their opportunity and will certainly not live unto God.

Perhaps I need to look at it another way: the Gospel was preached to me while I was dead in trespasses and sins (past tense,) so that (present and future tense) though I will continue to be judged harshly by humans, I am alive to God, and can live for Him by the Spirit. I think I have to look at it this way, for all three tenses to fit. So, knowing that God the Son is the judge of the living and the dead, and that I am now, permanently, one of the living, what should I do next?

Be Serious about This!

⁷But the end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer. ⁸And above all things have fervent charity among yourselves: for charity shall cover the multitude of sins. ⁹Use hospitality one to another without grudging.

Peter gives some solid commands as to how we are to respond to the knowledge of God:

Be Sober! Take this seriously!
Be in Prayer! This is a serious thing, too…not to be taken lightly. It is not “saying prayers:” it is talking to God, bringing confession, praise and thanksgiving, as well as requests for help for one another.
Above all, “Love one another with the Agapé love!” That covers a lot of faults!
Be hospitable (love of the stranger) toward one another without selfishness. The word translated “hospitality,” oddly enough, is “philoxenoi:” the “love of the stranger.” This rules out the attitude of, “I don’t know them well enough to want them in my home.” I am bound to extend hospitality to every believer, as a bare minimum: serving to meet the needs of the brethren.

¹⁰As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. ¹¹If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God; if any man minister, let him do it as of the ability which God giveth: that God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom be praise and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.

Peter closes this passage by stating that whatever my gift (or yours) is, it is to be used to serve (that is what “minister” means) in order to bless the assembly. If it is a speaking gift, I need to recognize that I am acting as a “mouthpiece for God,” and be very careful what I say, and how I present it. If I serve in any capacity, I must serve as God has gifted me to serve, always recognizing that I am serving Him, not just people.

The Result?

The result should be that whatever my gifts may be, my exercising of those gifts should bring glory to God through Jesus, not “glory to me through pride.” (That can happen so easily!) I remind myself regularly that the flock belongs to God: whatever I do toward the flock, I do as a service to Him. It is not for personal self-aggrandizement, or to seek honor, or even “desiring the limelight,” so to speak…wanting to attract attention. (The Holy Spirit does not attract attention to Himself. He works to glorify Jesus!)

I would just as soon “take a back seat” entirely, and at times in the past, I have attempted to do just that: to maintain that deliberate “low-profile.” But God has always ended up putting me back to the task of teaching believers to understand His Word. So I no longer resist it…I just throw myself on His Mercy, and confess that only He can truly feed His Flock.

I don’t know how else to proceed. Each of us shares this responsibility before God. All we can do is to seek to please Him daily, and look for His leading in service.

Lord Jesus, we hardly know how to stand before you: we often feel that we don’t know what we should do. Please guide us into all truth, and teach us to walk with you in faithfulness.

January 24, 2021March 21, 2021

Dead to Sin: Alive to God

Dead to Sin: Alive to God

1^st Peter 2:21-25 (read it!); Romans 6:1-14; Galatians 2:16-21

Introduction:

We have been working our way through 1^st Peter, and we see in 2:21 that we are to take Jesus as our example:

²¹For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps:

Whole books have been written about what it may mean to “Follow his steps:” I am not going to spend a lot of time on the subject, but I do think we should at least look at this particular context to see what is in focus, here:

In the first place, the subject at hand was the concept of “suffering for doing rightly.” Jesus certainly did nothing but good, righteous works, showing compassion and kindness to the poor, and holding the privileged and wicked religious leaders accountable for their sin. This passage is not suggesting that we all quit our jobs, and walk around attempting to imitate Jesus in His earthly ministry: I have no gift of healing, nor of any sort of miraculous signs. So I can’t imitate that portion. But, I can seek to imitate His righteousness, and I can strive to learn to use His Word, so that I can offer the same Hope He offered. And that is our actual assignment, according to Matthew 28:19, 20!

So: What did His Example Look Like?

²²Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth: ²³Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously:

We can at least see (v. 23) that we are to trust God for justice, not other humans: they are flawed individuals just as we are. We can also see (v.22,) obviously, that we are especially to abandon the kinds of wrong behavior that could get us in trouble with civil law, because there is no glory to God in our suffering punishment for unrighteous deeds. Dishonesty and a vengeful, sharp tongue are both mentioned as things Jesus did not commit…not just overt sins.

But for believers, it goes further, as Jesus judges the hearts, not just the outward actions. There are people today who teach that “unless there is an outward action, it isn’t sin.” Sorry…every man knows what it is to sin in his heart. And, it is interesting to note that the specific sin Paul addressed in Romans 7 was covetousness! (What part of your body do we use to commit Covetousness?) It is specifically a sin of the heart and mind!

So, the One before whom we stand is not just giving us an outward “inspection” as it were, but literally sees through us! If it were not for His great Love and Compassion toward us, there is not a one of us who could stand before his gaze at all! Lamentations 3:22, 23 says, “²²It is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. ²³They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.”

I can rejoice in my perfect standing before Him, rather than fearing His judgment, only because of my permanent position in Him which has been secured by His Grace, through faith! And, because I have that position in Him, secured forever, I not only am commanded, now, to walk with Him, but I am confident that it can be done, because His Holy Spirit now lives in me!

Peter goes on to remind us how that happened, and what the intended results are to be:

²⁴Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.

This last phrase, “… by whose stripes ye were healed” is obviously a quote from Isaiah 53. But the conclusion is strictly New Testament: We could not be “dead to sin” in the Old Testament. However, according to this verse, and Romans chapter six and Galatians chapter 2, we believers of the Church Age truly are dead to sin, as we died with Christ; and the result is supposed to be that because we are alive to Righteousness and alive to God, we should live for God.

Let’s take a look at Romans Chapter 6:

¹What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? ²God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?

This is a clear statement that believers are dead to sin! So we need to start thinking about what that means: It certainly does not mean that it is impossible for us to sin.

³Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? ⁴Therefore 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.

⁵For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection:

Here is another point to consider: The above three verses have nothing to do with water! They all refer to the one REAL baptism, which was accomplished by the Holy Spirit at the moment of rebirth, when He placed us into (baptized us into) the Body of Christ! (1^st Corinthians 12:13)Water baptism is only an outward “picture” of the real, inward change that has already happened. Anyone can be baptized in water, whether they are a believer or not. But, the Holy Spirit never makes a mistake, and unbelievers have never been “Baptized into the Body of Christ!”

What is baptism anyway? As far as the meaning of the word, it literally means to “dip.” When Jesus “dipped the sop in the cup” and handed it to Judas, the word, there, for “dip,” is “bapto.”

But what does Baptism signify? We could get a clue from how the word is still used today, in dyeing cloth: fabric is “dipped” in the dye, in order to permanently associate it with (or identify it with) that color dye-pot. Jesus was baptized by John to identify Himself with the message John was preaching: “The Gospel of the Kingdom.” He was the King! He was the One regarding whom John said, “He who comes after me is greater than I!”

We have been baptized into Christ by the Holy Spirit, so that we are identified with Him in His death and burial and His new, resurrected life. We are dead with Him. Please bear in mind that “death” always refers to some kind of “separation.” To be “physically dead” means that one’s physical body is separated from one’s non-physical self: the soul and the spirit. To be “spiritually dead,” (as we all were before our new birth) meant that we were spiritually separated from God; and, in fact, that we were His enemies! Romans 5:10 tells us that, whether we knew it or not, we were enemies of God.

There is an aspect of “spiritual death” which can occur in a believer’s life, too: when we choose to sin, we are separated from fellowship with God; and functionally, we are “dead,” again. We have not changed our position, but our condition has become bad: we need His cleansing through confession. (1^st John 1:6-9) But a believer—even in terrible condition—remains God’s Child and will eventually be going home. If an unbeliever remains spiritually dead, never having received the Lord Jesus as Savior, then eventually, the Eternal Death (called “the Second Death”) is all that is left for them. (Revelation 20:14)

But! We are not talking about any of those forms of death, here! Here he says that we are dead to sin! So, keeping in mind that “death” has to correlate with some kind of “separation,” what can it mean to be “dead to Sin?”

**What does it mean to be “Dead to Sin?”**

⁶Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. ⁷For he that is dead is freed from sin.

In what way have I been separated from Sin? Take a quick look at Romans 7:7-17. Paul goes through a lengthy argument in the entire chapter, but an important conclusion for us to understand is in verse 17: he says that the sin is “…no longer I, but Sin that dwelleth in me!”

Is Paul attempting to “escape guilt” by denying that he was the one who sinned? No, because back in verse 14, he confesses that “…the Law is Holy, but I am Carnal, sold under sin!”

The issue is that, when Paul was born again, he acquired a new nature! And that New nature is the only nature God is willing to recognize! In fact, over in Romans 8:7, Paul affirms that the old sin nature cannot be healed! It cannot be brought into subjection to God. So, the new birth, and the new nature is the only hope for a sinner. And that new nature is the “new You!” God sees you (the new nature) as His holy child. He recognizes that we still have our old nature, and that it is incorrigibly wicked. So He considers it to be dead, and calls us to do the same: He calls to us, as in the Song of Solomon, “Come away with me my love!” And Romans 6 says we no longer have to sin!

⁸Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him: ⁹Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him. ¹⁰For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God.

God says that, just like Jesus, we have been set free! But unlike Jesus, who never had a sin nature, we have choices to make, moment by moment, as to whether we will heed the call and walk with Jesus. So he calls us to see life through His eyes: to see ourselves as dead to sin; no longer under its authority.

¹¹Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.

And, on the basis of that faith, He calls us to turn away from temptation and not yield ourselves to the lure of sin. Rather, we are called to yield to God’s Holy Spirit, and become tools of righteousness in His hands.

¹²Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof.

¹³Neither 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.

¹⁴For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.

The final word, there, is that we are not under Law, but under Grace. Why is that important? Because the first thing we tend to do is to make a “list” in our minds of “all the things we will not do,” and suppose that if we can “obey the rules” we will be walking with Jesus. This thought-pattern totally misses the point! The reverse is true: if we learn to walk with Jesus, walking in the Spirit, we will “obey the rules,” if you want to call it that! Paul said in Galatians 5:16, “Walk in the Spirit and ye shall not fulfil the lusts of the Flesh.”

Further, he says that, even as believers, our righteousness is not established by obedience to the Law, but by our position in Christ. Look at Galatians 2:16-21.

¹⁶Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified. ¹⁷But if, while we seek to be justified by Christ, we ourselves also are found sinners, is therefore Christ the minister of sin? God forbid. ¹⁸For if I build again the things which I destroyed, I make myself a transgressor. ¹⁹For I through the law am dead to the law, that I might live unto God.

²⁰I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. ²¹I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain.

We have been permanently separated from our old sin nature, in God’s eyes, so that our new nature can freely respond to God. He no longer holds us guilty of our sins, even though, as saved sinners, we still sin! We are His saints, now, and that is the only way He sees us! It is our daily choice to either walk with Him and leave sin behind, or choose to go our own way, and quickly find ourselves back in sin’s grip. Turn back to 1^st Peter 2:25, please.

²⁵For ye were as sheep going astray; but are now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls.

This is another passage that reminds us that this letter was originally to Jewish Christians: the gentiles were very seldom referred to as “sheep;” but the “lost sheep of Israel” was a common theme. One time, only, in John 10:16, Jesus said “¹⁶And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd.” I believe that verse is talking about Gentiles who would eventually respond in faith. That verse is about you and me!

In the Church Age, there is truly one fold and One Shepherd. Jews who strayed from the God of Israel were considered “the lost sheep” of Israel. Gentiles were simply considered foreigners: heathens! In fact, the word “gentile” means “heathen.” So these Jews who had once been the “lost sheep” of Israel had been returned to the Shepherd and the “Overseer” or “Bishop” of their souls. The word translated “Bishop” is episkopos, and it means “supervisor” or “overseer.”

We gentiles have been born into the family of God, and He truly is the Shepherd and the Bishop of our souls as well, but we were not the lost sheep of Israel. We did not “wander away from God.” In fact, regarding the lost, in Matthew 7:23, Jesus said “Depart from me, ye workers of iniquity: I never knew you!” He does not say, “Well, I once knew you, but you just wandered off and got lost! (Too bad!”) No, He says he never knew them.

This is probably a good time to see what He says about those of us who have become His sheep: John 10:27, 28 says, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me, and I give unto them Eternal Life, and they shall never perish.” Also, in John 6:39, he said “this is my Father’s will who sent me, that of all He has given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day.” In both of these passages, Jesus says that He will keep you for eternity! You will never be a “lost sheep!” You can never become lost again!

What then?

So how does all of this tie into 1^st Peter 2:21-25? Remember that Jesus “suffered for doing rightly:” that is the immediate context, here. But it also says that he died so that we could live unto righteousness.

And that is what this passage has all been pointing at! If we can learn our position in Christ; “Finally free to walk with Him, and finally equipped to do His will,” then we can “live unto righteousness,” and be the Ambassadors He has called us to be.

Jesus walked in humility, living in physical poverty. We are sent out as redeemed and healed “beggars,” sharing with other beggars where to find free food, free clothing, free healing, and eternal life, freely given! Jesus did not “lord it over” anyone, and he spoke sternly only to the false teachers and the failed leaders of Israel. We are also sent in humility, to reach out with the Light and Love and Grace and Mercy of Christ, in a dark and dying world.

Lord Jesus, teach us to walk with you and to live in the newness of life, so that we may represent you in this lost world.

November 29, 2015November 29, 2015

Who Will You Serve?

Who Will You Serve, Now?

Romans 6:9-23

Introduction:

When I was in Bible School, the outline for this chapter was simple: “Know, Reckon, and Yield”. It seemed a revelation, to me, but it was years before I could see any way to make it work at all, because I still felt myself enslaved to sin. I found my experience to be far closer to that of Paul in Romans chapter seven than I was to the reality of chapter eight.

Romans chapter six does indeed tell us that we do not have to sin. Paul is emphatic about it: he says that “…sin shall not reign in your mortal bodies.” That is pretty strong language. In legal terms, the word “shall” denotes something that is mandatory. So how can I see this become a reality in my life?

In those long-ago classes, the outline form of “Know, Reckon and Yield” was correct, but did not point out that the “reckon” portion of it meant a working faith in the reality of the “know” portion. I has cockily quoted the “Know, Reckon, and Yield” to a pastor friend when I was just a year out of school, and he quietly asked, “But how is it to be done?” I couldn’t answer, and didn’t even really understand the question. I had dropped anchor on “knowledge” so completely that I was missing the “reckoning” part, entirely. His answer? “By faith!”

I had been trying to “yield myself” to God without really believing that I was free from the authority of sin in my life. It was years before I realized this fact, and began to put my faith in it.

Who do you work for? How did it happen that He became your master? Does that mean that your old master no longer exists, or simply that it no longer has authority?

Separated From the Old Master

⁹Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him.

¹⁰For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God.

¹¹Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Paul says that I am to know (Greek, eido: to know a fact…this is not some sort of ‘experiential knowledge’…it is simply the truth.) that Jesus, having died, and having been resurrected from the dead, cannot die again. Death has no more authority over his body. And, we are to know that we died with Him.

When Jesus died, His spirit and soul were separated from his body, and He spent three days and three nights in Paradise—the “good half” of Sheol, fulfilling his prophecies. When he was resurrected, his body was changed to what is called a “glorified” body. It can eat, but does not suffer hunger. It can walk, but does not have to walk—it could simply be where He willed it to be—into a locked room, for example…and back out. He was completely free of the normal shackles of the earthly life. He was free to live out the reality that He alone is God-in-the-flesh: Immanuel!

So Paul says that because we know that (as a fact), we are to reckon it to be so: not as my “Texas roots” would use the phrase, “well, I reckon it’s so…” (meaning they think it’s so), but rather, “account it to be true!” He says that we are to account ourselves to be also free to live for God, by the same authority; because we are in Christ!

My Old Boss

Almost 30 years ago, I briefly worked for a foreman who once worked in the same railcar manufacturing plant where I worked for 30 years. (He retired years ago.) He despised me, and let me know it, but I did my best to please him and do exactly as he ordered. I was only on loan to his department, so it was with considerable relief that I welcomed the move back to my own department.

Skipping forward about ten years; I had moved around quite a bit in the interim, but was now in an area near his department again, where we did specialty repairs. One day he brought a side-frame for a railcar truck-assembly to us, needing repair welding performed.

Railcar truck-assembly side-frames are made of cast steel, and, as there are several different possibilities as to the particular grade of steel in question, there are different weld procedures that must be used. Failure to adhere to these procedures not only voids the warranty, but risks catastrophic failure. We cannot afford such a risk, so we follow such standards faithfully. I was aware of these restrictions, so, when this older foreman brought the side-frame to us, I assured him that I would begin work on it the moment I received the weld-repair procedure from the manufacturer. He angrily demanded that I skip that, and begin work immediately.

It was actually a pleasant experience in a way: I was not at all put out by his insistence: I knew my limitations, and more to the point, I knew his limitations! I no longer worked for him! It simply did not matter what he thought of me, or how angry he became! So I cheerfully reiterated that I would begin the moment I got the information I needed (which would only take 30 minutes or so to get), but that I could not and would not begin without knowing for sure how to proceed.

He angrily stomped out of our office, loudly saying that I would have to answer to his supervisors. I was not at all worried, because I knew they would submit to the authority of the Railroad Welding Code, and the manufacturer’s recommendations, just as surely as I did.

Why was I so cheerful in the face of his anger and threats? Because I was completely resting in the fact that I no longer worked for him, and was in no way accountable to him. I was completely free to do what I knew to be right and good, and safe, rather than having to do what he wanted done, which was none of the above.

So how do we apply this to the Christian life? We are to completely rest in the fact that we are in Christ, and that because He is dead to sin, we also are dead to sin. Sin has no more authority in our lives.

We Have a New Master

Just as I was at complete peace in disobeying my old Boss, we should feel completely free to ignore the haranguing of our old nature, demanding satisfaction for the old sinful desires. We don’t work for it anymore. It has no further authority in our lives.

¹²Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof.

¹⁴For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.

If I had obeyed the demands of my old boss, out of habit or out of fear, I would have been in trouble with my new supervisor. I would have had no defense for my actions, because what the old boss was demanding was completely wrong, and he certainly would not have backed me, admitting that he had ordered me to do wrong. But even if he had done so, I would have been wrong, because he had no authority, and I knew he had no authority. I had no excuse for failure.

In all honesty, I still have no excuse for failure. I cannot say, “Well, my old sin nature came along and made me do this…” That is not true! If I sin, I have to choose to follow my old sinful ways. The old nature has no “power” to force me into service. I have to choose to obey, even if it is an unconscious choice (and usually it is not).

¹⁵What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid.

¹⁶Know 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?

¹⁷But 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.

Ironically, your new nature has no power to force you to obey righteousness, either. You still have to choose. A lot of people have gotten the idea that the new nature is the indwelling Spirit of God. That is not true, because God says (Ephesians 4:24) that the new nature is a created entity, and the Holy Spirit is God—the Creator. So, my old nature is the one I received at conception, and which I will lose when I die or am raptured. It is connected with my mortal body, so it will cease to exist when this body dies or is changed to an immortal body.

I received my new nature when I was re-born as a child of God. The new nature is righteous, and has righteous desires, but has no power to force obedience. God wants a righteous choice, and has given me the wherewithal to make it. Before I possessed this new nature, I could not choose righteousness, because my every choice was dominated by my sin. It was the only nature I had. I was completely under its control. When I believed the Gospel, and was born again, I received a new nature, and I now have a real choice. I have been transferred to a new department.

¹⁸Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness.

¹⁹I 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.

When I was moved to that new department, at work, I had a new supervisor who was committed to doing things right. I had had that commitment for years, but was employed by those who did not: I had one foreman, in fact, who, when I protested that a particular weld-joint constituted an “illegal weld” (meaning “prohibited by the code”), he just laughed, and said, “It’s only illegal if you get caught, Chet!”

But now I was under a boss that would support doing things correctly. So I was not to worry about what the old bosses thought, but just go ahead and choose the right way. It sounds easy, doesn’t it? That is because I had already been committed to doing right, and was grieved to be working for those who were not.

But what if it had been different? What if I had been in complete agreement with doing whatever one could “get away with”, and had never had any inclination to do right? Would having a new boss change everything I thought overnight? Would my new position under him be easy to grasp? I really doubt it, because when the rules have changed, over the years, it has sometimes been difficult for me to let go of the old ways, and embrace the new. But that is what Paul is telling me to do, right here.

I am to consciously respond to my new Master, choosing to obey Him. The whole truth of Romans 6 is wrapped around this idea. It is a relational truth: my position in Him is secure, but my daily walk with Him—my relationship with Him—is definitely affected by how I live. I am to respond to HIM, not to my old desires, just as I was to respond to my new boss, not my old, at work. Incidentally, all the bosses I have had at work who made for really negative experiences, no longer work there. They have been replaced, mostly by someone better. Do I miss them? Not one bit! I certainly do not want them back!

Why Would You Want the Old Ways?

²⁰For when ye were the servants of sin, ye were free from righteousness.

²¹What fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed? for the end of those things is death.

In the old days at work, for instance, welders were not required to wear respirators. We were “free” from the restriction of a respirator, but we were slowly being poisoned by the fumes we inhaled as a result of the lack thereof. How profitable was that? The result could have been a fatal lung disease, or a crippling disability…and in many cases, it was.

We did not like the new “rules” which required the respirators, but we gradually became convinced that they were a good idea…and now we look back and shake our heads over our foolish risk-taking in the old days. There was nothing good about it. Our “freedom” from the respirators resulted in disability or death for many workers. The same was true for many other safety precautions we once scorned, but which are now required.

Now we enjoy freedom from the inhaled pollutants, and the debilitating results thereof, and we choose gladly to “serve good sense” and reap relative health. I don’t miss the “bad old days” one bit!

At one time, seat-belts in automobiles were optional, and most people ignored them, because they didn’t like the “restrictive” nature of even the lap belts, let alone shoulder straps (though the Advocates of seat-belts reminded those reluctant ones that “wheelchairs are even more restrictive!”)

When the seat-belts and shoulder straps became a requirement, the death-toll in auto accidents was sharply reduced. We had been “free” from the restraining lap-belts and shoulder straps, but we are now free from the likelihood of being ejected from the car and killed, in an auto accident.

²²But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life.

So, Paul argues, you were free from righteousness, and the results were uniformly bad. Now you are free from the clutches of your old sin nature. You have everlasting life as a result of that choice. Now you are to choose to respond to the personal, moment by moment call of Jesus Christ to live for Him, and allow the Holy Spirit to produce real fruit in your life.

The deaths from being thrown out of cars, and from breathing dangerous fumes were not caused by the danger, but by our proximity to the danger. We have been separated from that proximity to a certain degree, by safety belts and respirators, so the deaths are less common.

We have been separated, positionally from the penalty of sin. How does one distance oneself from the danger of sin? 1^st Timothy 6:11 gives us s pretty good start on the answer to that question. He says, “But thou, O man of God, flee these things (temptations, that is) and follow after Righteousness, Godliness, Faith, Love, Patience, Meekness.” He says to distance yourself from the temptations, and get closer to the things of Christ.

Vernon McGee shared how a little child fell out of bed one night, and when her mother came into the room to comfort her and get her safely in bed again, the mother asked “How did you fall out of bed?” The child responded, “I think I just stayed too close to where I got in!” That is pretty perceptive, actually, and highly applicable to the Christian life. The further we move away from our old ways, the harder it will be to fall back into them.

Paul closes this passage with a reminder that while the old ways continually earned the results—the “wages”—they deserved, which was separation from God, the eternal life we now have is not to be earned at all. It is a gift. He says,

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

My position in Christ is the result of pure Grace… the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ. But if you want to experience that life on a daily basis, you will have to respond to Him as your Lord, as well. He is our new boss, and He is the one to whom we need to answer, not our old sin nature. Meditate on this passage and ask God to make it clear to you. I freely admit that I have not “arrived”, in this matter, and that it is a struggle for me as well.

Lord Jesus, Help us to understand your Word, and to listen to the pleading of the Holy Spirit, so that we can daily respond to you in faith and obey your will in our daily lives.