Foundations Study - The Christ
Centered Life Lesson #6 & 7 January 13, 2002
Intro Review:
Ø
6:6 continues with more important information we
need to know!
We must answer three problems if we are to
understand this crucial verse;
1. Who is the old
man??
2. Who or what is the
body of sin?
3. What does the verb
done away with mean, what is involved?
"knowing
this" ginwskw indicates
that we are to have knowledge; that
is, an intimate understanding and discerning of the facts involved.
that our old self was crucified with
(Him),
palaio.j old from the point of use not age;
- Term
refers to all that we were, whole person, by virtue of our belonging to Adam.
What about that old man?
- was
crucified with (Him) [aorist passive indicative] sustauro,w Old man/self died with on the cross.
- Next
follows 2 purposes for the old man being crucified with Christ at salvation;
#1 that
our body of sin might be done away with,
- to. sw/ma
th/j a`marti,aj(, our
body = ;
- lit. that our sin possessed body; recognizes that we are dominated and controlled by the sin
nature before salvation;
- might
be done away with katarge,w
aorist passive
subjunctive; with i[na = purpose clause
literal meaning of the expression
"done away with" is
"to put out of business" or
"to dissolve business relationships."
Other meanings: made powerless, impotent, rendered ineffective"
#2 [purpose] that
we should no longer be slaves to sin;
The Sin nature has been rendered , put out of business so that we, no
longer are , dominated by it;
doesn't say that it is no longer there.
What
about those 3 questions we stated at the beginning of verse 6?
Do
we have an answer for them? Summary!
1. Who is the old man??
2.
Who or what is the body of sin?
3. What does the verb done away with [kjv destroyed] mean? What is involved?
Ø 6:7 "for [reason we are no longer slaves of sin] he who has died is freed from sin."
Some Observations on 6:4-7
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."
There
are proposed four different interpretations of this expression
"body of sin."
#1 Some believe that it refers to the sin
nature.
#2 Some claim
that by
"body of sin" Paul means all sin in one mass considered
figuratively as a body."
In other words, it is the sum total of all sinful
acts.
#3 Others see the
"body of sin" as the person who sins.
#4 A number of
scholars regard the "body of sin"
as the physical body of the
unregenerate man characterized as an instrument of service to the sinful
nature.
When we believe in Christ we
die with Christ, we're crucified with Him.
What happens?
1. Our physical body terminates
its former relationship with the sin nature.
2.
No longer is it the servant of the sin nature.
3. No longer is it obligated to
function as an instrument of sin.
4. It ceases to be
the "body of sin." body possessed/dominated by sin.
The
first purpose of our death with Christ implies that, when the person dies with
Christ, his sinful nature loses its position of over
him, and he loses his position of to that nature.
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."
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?
- 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.
- 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."