Lesson 80
The Christ-Centered Life
The Foundation
is our Position in Christ - Rom 6
We were reviewing the purposes for the death of the old man, all that
we were in Adam.
1. The First Purpose of the
Death of the Old Man/Self; being crucified with Christ is "that our body of sin might be done away
with."
2. The second purpose for the old man's crucifixion with Christ is
"that we should no longer be
slaves to sin."
3. The Third Purpose of the Death "in order that...we too might walk in newness of life."
"in order that...we too might walk in newness of life."
- Verse 5 explains why this
walk in newness of life is possible.
-
We're new creatures/creations, having a new nature [regen],
having the Holy Spirit indwelling;
-
Thus, the third purpose of our death with Christ states that when we die with
Christ our sin nature loses its position of master over us, and we loose our
position of slave to that nature.
4. Rom. 6:7 Gives us the Result of our Death
with Him
Here Paul
states that one of the results of our death with Christ: the person who has
died, that is with Christ,
"is freed from sin."
This
statement of Paul prompts an important question.
In what
sense is the person who has died with Christ freed from his sinful nature?
At least four different
answers to this question have been proposed.
#1 some say
that, when the person dies with Christ, he is freed from the presence of his
sin nature.
#2 Others claim
that the person who has died with Christ is freed from the power or influence
of "sin."
#3 Thirdly, a number of scholars believe that
Romans 6:7 is teaching that, when a person dies with Christ, God judicially
declares him to be free from the guilt, penalty, and judgment of sin.
- In
spite of this more normal usage, however, we must reject this third view for
several reasons.
- There is a fourth view,
maintained by a number of scholars, which asserts that we who have died with
Christ have been freed from the sinful nature itself, in the sense that we have
lost it as our master.
Basis
for this being the correct interpretation;
- 1st This view fits best with the
master--slave analogy which Paul uses in this context.
By analogy Paul is teaching
that the sin nature holds the legal position of master over the unregenerate
man, and the unregenerate man holds the position of slave under his sin nature.
This master-slave relationship is terminated by our identification with
the death of Christ.
At that point we died with
Christ and are freed from our sin
nature in the sense that it loses its legal
position of master over us.
- Secondly, this view gives Rom. 6:7 the meaning which most logically
explains the last clause of Romans 6:6: "that we should no longer be slaves to sin."
The very fact that Paul's
readers have a new master implies that their sin natures have ceased being
their master.
Ø 6:8-10 Result/expectation from having died with
Christ
The emphasis here is on Current Positional Truth, CPT.
6:8 Now if [since, 1cc]
we have died with Christ, we believe
that we shall also live with Him;
- What's the key
here?? We believe! For any of these truths to have the impact in
your life that God intends, YOU must
believe them,
YOU must have faith in what God has said!
The emphasis here is on the
provision for our life now as
believers.
We now have the capacity because of this identification to
walk in newness of life with Him.
That is, our new life imparted to us at the moment
we believe is Christ's; we live therefore by means of Him! How is that?
Through the Word in us, or as James put it the engrafted word Gal 2:20
Recap
what Paul is saying here:
6:8 Because it is true that we
died with Christ, we shall also live with Him!
Our spiritual life is derived from Christ, totally.
Ø 6:9 Our Confidence in time is
related to what we know about Christ's
death, cross!
"Knowing
that Christ, having been raised from the dead, is never to die again; death no longer is
master over Him.
- He
reminds us of the fact of His resurrection here because his focus for each of
us is to know and believe that we also
died and were raised with Him; so that we can walk in newness of
life.
- We need to remember that we share His resurrection life, its eternal
life;
Ø
6:10. For the death that He died, He died to sin,
once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. [set pattern]
He not
only paid the penalty for our sins but that He has broken the power of sin
[i.e. sin nature]!
- What's the kind of life
that He lives? in fact will always live!