Today, we conclude our study of Romans 6 where the Apostle Paul is teaching us about our sanctification. In order to do so, Paul has presented a contrast between being a slave to sin and being a slave to God. Righteousness is God's definition of all things as found in His word, the Bible. Righteousness shows us the right way, the way of God, the culture of God. And, when we are being defined by God, we will know His holiness or wholeness. A life of righteousness is what we all long for, we just have difficulty understanding it because we are yet sinful. The enemy has long set out to lead us to believe that God's definitions of things is binding and not to be trusted. This is why we have such a hard time seeing the good in His culture.
In v.19 of today's passage we read, "I am using an example from everyday life because of your human limitations. Just as you used to offer yourselves as slaves to impurity and to ever-increasing wickedness, so now offer yourselves as slaves to righteousness leading to holiness."
The righteousness of God renders His holiness. God's holiness is wholeness or completeness. It renders in us the sense of security that we all long for. What often leads us to serve sin or a degradation of the truth is our insecurities and our subsequent lack of trust in God. The last of the ten commandments is "do not covet." Covetousness is desiring what we do not have and it reveals our lack, which is what causes us to lust for that which we do not have. When we are defined by God, we grow in security or that sense that there is substance at the bottom of our lives. When we grow in His security, we will be on the pathway to being made more complete and whole. When we experience wholeness that the truth provides, we will recognize the utter idiocy of serving and being defined by sin.
In v.20-21 of today's passage we read, "20 When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the control of righteousness. 21 What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things result in death!"
In v.20-21 of today's passage we read, "20 When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the control of righteousness. 21 What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things result in death!"
The opposite of love is not hate; it is selfishness. Adam and Eve chose self over love. They chose self over God. Sin demeans God’s value. It states that God is not worthy of praise, loyalty, and obedience. Sin dishonors God. Sin fails to rightly glorify God. Our sin brings shame upon God, ourselves, and others. Shame is traced in the Bible all the way back to the Fall when the first couples "eyes were opened." Their shame made them hide from one another and God. Shame is that emotion that comes into our purview with the guilt that sin ushers into our lives. Much of our sanctification is designed to deal with this shame which prevents us from moving forward in our intimacy with God and others.
When we serve and obey sin, we invite death into our existence. This death includes guilt and shame. Generally speaking we feel guilty for what we do and we feel shame for what we are. Whereas, shame focuses on a negative evaluation of the self, guilt focuses on the negative choices that we make because of the gulit. It is impossible to know the true meaning of life until we know the true meaning of death and all of its forms.
Death is the product of sin. Sin desires to make our addicted to it more important than God. Sin and all of its associates want to take away our humanity. Sin wants to tear our lives apart and, through us, the lives of those around us. When we choose to be defined by sin, it does not take us long to discover that it is quite dumb of us to go the way of sin. The frustrating thing is that it is our default mode. When we understand the negative consequences, we will have acquired the wisdom to shirk sin. This does not mean that we will ever be perfect or sinless this side of heaven, but it does mean that we can grow in God's wisdom and subsequent sanctification. And, once we understand the positive consequences of being defined by God, we will become more determined to walk in God's ways.
Being a slave to God means we’ve been freed from sin. Twice in Roman 6 we are commanded to "present ourselves to God." In so doing, we turn our backs on that which wants to destroy us, namely the flesh. And, as a result we are freed to experience the life the Lord Jesus died to give us. This life is what the Bible calls "eternal life."
Being a slave to God means we’ve been freed from sin. Twice in Roman 6 we are commanded to "present ourselves to God." In so doing, we turn our backs on that which wants to destroy us, namely the flesh. And, as a result we are freed to experience the life the Lord Jesus died to give us. This life is what the Bible calls "eternal life."
In v.22-23 of today's passage we read, "22 But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."
God's holiness frees us from our guilt and shame. And, as long as we cling to sin, to the things that we know are wrong, we essentially refuse to enter into the freedom that Christ died to give us. The result of being freed from our guilt and shame is that others benefit from that which God brings into our yielded lives. This is partly why I say that the greatest purpose and result of our sanctification is that others benefit. When we walk in His light we enjoy His deliverance and His wisdom. When we are freed from the ugly work of sin, namely shame and guilt, we are freed to be less selfish and more selfless. This is the genius of God: that even our sin, guilt and shame are useful in His deliverance in and through our lives.
Eternal life is the opposite of the lies of the enemy has delivered. The life the Lord Jesus died to give us is a free gift. God has known all along that the answer to our frequent identity crises is not first and foremost focusing on who we are, but focusing on who He is. This enables us to know more than eternal life, this enables us to know Him who is eternal life.
