“What then are we to say?” entreats Paul in Romans 6:1. “Should we continue in sin in order that grace may abound?” Paul answers his own query in the section that follows, leading up to the conclusions that Christians are “under grace” (v. 14). For Paul the transition of the person from sin to grace relates to the person’s identity and belonging. Sin, in Romans 6:1-14, means less a person’s actions specifically and more the claims to which a person belongs. With sin comes death and dominion that, apart from Christ, define who persons are in themselves and in their allegiances. Christ, however, redefines the person’s status—replacing the person’s identity of death with that of new life and releasing the person from the dominion of sin. In Romans 6:1-14, Paul rejects continuing in sin on the grounds that doing so denies the proper identity and belonging that Christians have in Christ’s death and life. Moreover, Paul asserts that belonging to Christ’s life means rejecting identity with sin’s dominion. Before assessing Paul’s ground for rejecting continuation in sin, we must ask what Paul means by sin. For Paul in Romans 6:1-14, sin refers not to wrongful human actions per se but rather to a power to which Christians should not belong. The word Paul uses in this passage for sin is the noun ἁμαρτία. While the word may refer to “a departure from either human or divine standards of uprightness,” it may also mean “a state of being sinful” or “a destructive evil power” that Paul renders “in almost personal terms…as a ruling power that invades the world.” Sin appears exclusively as a noun in Romans 6:1-14—a fact that further hints toward Paul’s primary concern here with sin as a state of being or power. Romans 6:1-14 support... ... middle of paper ... ...righteousness in parallel with that of the Christian believer (4:3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11, 22, 23, 24). NRSV translates it as “reckon.” The effect is similar in Romans 4 and in this verse: Abraham’s righteousness as well as the Christian’s relates to externally reckoned belonging rather than inherent identity. Within Romans 6:1-14, the metaphor is a largely negative one—dominion is bad, freedom is good—though in Romans 7 Paul will turn it to positive ends, paralleling the bond of marriage (7:1-3) to the status of being “slaves…in the new life of the Spirit” (7:6). The term translated as “freed” is δεδικαίωται or “have been rendered righteous,” a concept to which verse 13 returns. The term in question for “dominion” is the same as that in verse 14 (discussed in footnote 4) and carries the same implications of belonging under lordship. Danker (2000)
Obeying God’s commandments is where we obtain this freedom. Many people feel that having to live by “these set of rules” (the ten commandments) is debilitating but as a matter of fact, it is sin that is crippling us. Plantinga (2002) stated that “Sin traps people and makes them wilt; godly obedience liberates people and helps them flourish” (p. 74-75). In Exodus 19:4-5, it says to “obey my voice,” the commandments were not given to us to rescue us, but because we have already been rescued. “God rescues people and then lays down the law,” said by Plantinga, perfectly reflects these thoughts. Grace is a tremendous word that is used more than 150 times in the New Testament to speak of divine favor granted to undeserving people. MacArthur (2014) writes in God’s Sufficient Grace that, “We are saved by grace (Ephesians 2:8) and in grace we stand (Romans 5:2). Grace upholds our salvation, gives us victory in temptation, and helps us endure suffering and pain. It helps us understand the Word and wisely apply it to our lives. It draws us into communion and prayer and enables us to serve the Lord effectively. In short, we exist and are firmly fixed in an environment of all-sufficient grace”
Gentry, Peter J., and Stephen J. Wellum. Kingdom through Covenant: A Biblical Theological Understanding of the Covenants. Crossway, 2012. Google Scholar: Subject relevance
Human beings, even when they are trapped or imprisoned, tend to assert their individuality or personal freedom. For decades now, the true meaning of freedom has been a very controversial topic. According to the American Heritage College Dictionary the word freedom means. The Condition of being free of constraints. Freedom can be felt, not physically but mentally through emotions. When human beings are trapped or imprisoned, most would have to achieve their own personal freedom in order to survi...
Human identity can be summed up by looking at it from two perspectives. Who we are in our natural state and who we are in Christ. Mankind in his natural state is driven by his sin nature. Romans 1-8 perfectly lays out who and what we are in our natural state. It also lays out who and what we are in Christ. “For we have already made the charge that Jews and Gentiles alike are all under the power of sin.” (Romans 3:9 NIV) In Romans 1:29-31, Paul gives a long list of wicked behaviors that are still prevalent in today’s society, which lets me know that we, in our natural state, are the same as we always have been. There are no exceptions to the rule, besides that of Christ. “All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.” (3:23) Paul emphasizes in Romans 1-3 how people have tried to free themselves from their sin nature by depending on the Law to no avail. The Law could not bring about justification (Acts 13:39), produce righteousness (Galatians 2:21), produce life (Galatians 3:21), bring about perfection (Hebrews 7:19) or free the conscience from a knowledge of sin (Hebrews 10:1-4). (Johnson, 1896) The fact is that God’s standards are perfect and we alone can never live up to them by any religious act or moral behavior. The good news is that God knew all of this. He knew that by our strength alone, we could not overcome our own sin nature. He sent us a perfect sacrifice to permanently fulfill the Law. That sacrifice was his only Son, Jesus Christ. “God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood—to be received by faith.” (Romans 3:25) Through faith in Jesus Christ, the grace of God has been given to us. Now, rather than being bound we are made free. Instead of unrighteousness abounding in ou...
“Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned” (Romans 5:12). In order for humanity to fulfill it’s created purpose and be completely satisfied in life, each individual must worship God in every deed, word, and thought. God reveals this purpose over and over again in the first eleven chapters of Genesis in the story of Cain and Able, Noah and the flood, the tower of Babel, and most importantly, the fall. With all of this in mind, one must ask the question, “How can we fulfill our purpose if we are unable to worship God?” That is where Christ comes in. Because of His great love, He came to this earth and died for humanity so that they could be restored to life (Romans 5:8). By accepting Jesus’ free gift of salvation, His blood covers all sin and His righteousness is credited to the sinner (Romans 6:23). The result, then, is that everyone who receives this gift is now free to live their lives for Christ; fulfilling their created purpose. There is, then, only two human identities. Either one has accepted Christ’s gift of salvation and now identifies as a child of God, or he rejects God and chooses death over life. The child of God now lives under the authority of Christ and interprets everything through a different
NLT). We are not to walk away from sin we are to run! God makes it clear. Sin is not a bargaining tool that we allow certain sins to be more deadly than others are. Sin is sin.
In the book of Romans, my worldview starts by understanding what Paul meant when he said we are all born into this world as sinners; however, we are born again when we turn our lives over to God and are saved by God’s son, Jesus Christ, who gave his life for our sins in order for us to be forgiven by God and now learn
Theology and different religions, all contain information about sin. Sin is recognized as an unholy thing to possess, therefore, sin is not taken lightly. In Roman Catholicism, if one’s sins are serious enough, one may not receive eternal life with God, in Heaven. Severe punishments may occur, if one sins. Sin is thought to have been caused by mankind. The perception of sin continues to evolve as the analysis of texts continues.
Cahill sees Scripture as having three dimensions, which she defines as “the specific texts on the issue at hand, specific texts on related issues, and general biblical themes or patterns” (64). For specific texts, she mentions Leviticus, Deuteronomy, and Paul’s letters to the Corinthians, the Romans, and Timothy. Citing the historical and social contexts of the Old Testament texts, she dismisses them as not easily applicable to modern society (65). When she considers Paul, she questions whether his lists of sins translate well into modern moral discourse because of Paul’s primary concern with idolatry and because of the Greek model of homosexuality, which greatly differs from modern homosexual relationships that resemble marriage (65). Though she does not specifically state it, implicit in these references to historical context is doubt about the Spirit-inspired nature of the Scriptures. In questioning the ability of the Scriptu...
...pse." In Current Issues in New Testament Interpretation, edited by W. Klaasen and G.F. Snyder, 23-37. New York, NY: Harper and Row, 1962.
The law was central to God’s old covenant with the people of Israel, and many Jews in Paul’s day still saw it as critical to how God’s people lived. Therefore, in Romans, Paul frequently deals with questions about the law. The pinnacle of his treatment comes in Rom 7, where Paul powerfully argues that the Law of Moses, rather than having a positive effect on people’s lives, stimulated sin and brought death. The law does not and cannot bring victory over sin and death since sin is defined and even promoted through the law. But those who have died with Christ are set free from sin and the law.
Let us first speak of master and slave, looking to the needs of practical life and also seeking to attain some better theory of their relation than exists at present. Property is a part of the household, and the art of acquiring property is a part of the art of managing the household; for no man can live well, or indeed live at all, unless he be provided with necessaries. And so, in the arrangement of the family, a slave is a living possession, and property a of such instruments; and the slave is himself an instrument which takes precedence of all other instruments. The master is only the master of the slave; he does not belong to him, whereas the slave is not only the slave of his master, but wholly belongs to him.
"There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set me free from the law of sin and death" (Rom 8:1-2). Paul believes if you are in Christ Jesus, then you will be saved. Because of Jesus' selflessness, he has freed us from sin and death. God had created the world through wisdom and with Adam we then were under the reign of sin. Then, with the resurrection of Jesus, He freed us from the law and we entered into a period of grace with God. We are living by the Spirit in an era of grace, so therefore we should be dead to sin. Paul explains this in greater detail in the beginning of Romans in 3:9.
Flanders, Henry J, Robert W. Crapps, and David A. Smith. People of the Covenant: An Introduction to the Hebrew Bible. New York: Oxford University Press, 1996.
The Merriam Webster Dictionary defines righteousness as “behavior that is morally justifiable or right.” Throughout the Bible it is said that God is righteous, that his ethics and actions by definition are morally justifiable. Righteousness is the uppermost truth of God; in its absences all other traits could be reduced to ever changing whims of the person of God. To fully grasp this trait of God, the idea of Righteousness must be understood, furthermore, its relation of God and humanity must also be fully comprehended. Justification and Righteousness go hand in hand, they are ideas which can be witnessed, observed, understood, and questioned, however, Righteousness is a quality, while justification is an action, therein lies a difference between the pair. According to the Bible, righteousness is embedded in God, that is, he is the arbitrator of Justice who is fully righteous. God is righteous because we are told he is, his actions demonstrate so, and it is observable today.