The Epistle of Saint Paul The Apostle to the Romans continues without comment:
Christians Dead to Sin:
What then shall we say? Shall we continue to sin that grace may abound? By no means! For how shall we who are dead to sin still live in it?
Do you not know that all we who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into his death? For we were buried with him by means of Baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ has arisen from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we may also walk in newness of life.
For if we have been united with him in the likeness of his death, we shall be so in the likeness of his resurrection also. For we know that our old self has been crucified with him, in order that the body of sin may be destroyed, that we may no longer be slaves to sin; for he who is dead is acquitted of sin.
Thus do you consider yourselves also as dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.
The Reign of Sin:
Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its lusts. And do not yield your members to sin as weapons of iniquity, but present yourselves to God as those who have come to life from the dead and your members as weapons of justice for God; for sin shall not have dominion over you, since you are not under the Law but under grace.
Slavery to Sin:
What then? Are we to sin because we are not under the Law but under grace? By no means! Do you not know that to whom you offer yourselves as slaves for obedience, to him whom you obey you are slaves, whether to sin unto death or to obedience unto justice?
But thanks be to God that you who were the slaves of sin have now obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine into which you have been delivered, and having been set free from sin, you have become the slaves of justice.
I speak in a human way because of the weaknesses of your flesh; for as you yielded your members as slaves of uncleanliness and iniquity unto iniquity, so now yield your members as slaves of justice unto sanctification.
For when you were the slaves of sin, you were free as regards justice. But what fruit had you then from those things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of these things is death.
But now set free from sin and become slaves to God, you have your fruit unto sanctification, and as your end, life everlasting. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is life everlasting in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Christians Freed from the Law:
Do you not know, brethren (for I speak to those who know law), that the Law has dominion over a man as long as he lives?
For the married woman is bound by the Law while her husband is alive; but if her husband die, she is set free from the law of the husband. Therefore, while her husband is alive, she will be called an adulteress if she be with another man; but if her husband dies, she is set free from the law of the husband, so that she is not an adulteress if she has been with another man.
Therefore, my brethren, you also, through the body of Christ, have been made to die to the Law, so as to belong to another who has risen from the dead, in order that we may bring forth fruit unto God. For when we were in the flesh the sinful passions, which were aroused by the Law, were at work in our members so that they brought forth fruit unto death. But now we have been set free from the Law, having died to that by which we were held down, so that we nay serve in a new spirit and not according to the outworn letter.
The Law, the Occasion of Sin:
What shall we say them? Is the Law sin? By no means! Yet I did not know sin save through the Law. For I had not known lust unless the Law had said. “Thou shalt not lust.”
But sin, having thus found an occasion, worked in me by means of the commandment all manner of lust, for without the Law sin was dead.
Once upon a time I was living without law, but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died, and the commandment that was unto life was discovered in my case to be unto death.
For sin, having taken occasion from the commandment, deceived me, and through it killed me. So that the Law indeed is holy and the commandment holy and just and good.
Sin, the Cause of Death:
Did then that which is good become death to me? By no means! But sin, that it might be manifest as sin, worked death for me through that which is good, in order that sin by reason of the commandment might become immeasurably sinful.
For we know that the Law is spiritual but I am carnal, sold into the power of sin. For I do not understand what I do, for it is not what I wish that I do, but what I hate that I do. But if I do what I do not wish, I admit that the Law is good.
Now therefore it is no longer I who do it, but the sin that dwells in me. For I know that in me, that is, in my flesh, no good dwells, because to wish is within my power, but I do not find the strength to accomplish what is good.
For I do not the good that I wish, but the evil that I do not wish, that I perform. Now if I do what I do not wish, it is no longer I who do it, but the sin that dwells in me.
Therefore, when I wish to do good I discover this law, namely, that evil is at hand for me. For I am delighted with the law of God according to the inner man, but I see another law in my members, warning against the law of my mind and making me prisoner to the law of sin that is in my members.
Deliverance due to the Grace of God:
Unhappy man that I am! Who will deliver me from the body of this death? The grace of God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Therefore I myself with my mind serve the law of God, but with my flesh the law of sin.
The Faithful Need Fear no Condemnation:
There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, who so not walk according to the flesh.
For the law of the Spirit of the life In Christ Jesus has delivered me from the law of sin and death.
For what was impossible to the Law, in that it was weak because of the flesh, God has made good. By sending his Son in the likeness of sinful flesh as a sin-offering, he has condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the requirements of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the spirit.
The Flesh and The Spirit:
Now they who are according to the flesh mind the things of the flesh, but they who are according to the spirit mind the things of the spirit.
For the inclination of the flesh is death, but the inclination of the spirit, life and peace.
For the wisdom of the flesh is hostile to God, for it is not the subject to the law of God, nor can it be. And they who are carnal cannot please God. You, however, are not carnal but spiritual, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ.
But if Christ is in you, the body, it is true, is dead by reason of sin, but the spirit is life by reason of justification.
But if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, then he who raised Jesus from the dead will also bring to life your mortal bodied because of his Spirit who dwells in you.
A Solemn Warning:
Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, that we should live according to the flesh, for if you live according to the flesh you will die: but if by the spirit you put to death the deeds of the flesh, you will live.
The Faithful Sons of God:
For whoever are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. Now you have not received a spirit of bondage so as to be again in fear, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons, by virtue of which we cry, “Abba! Father!” The Spirit himself gives testimony to our spirit that we are sons of God. But if we are sons, we are heirs also: heirs indeed of God and joint heirs with Christ, provided, however, we suffer with him that we may also be glorified with him.
Yearning of All Creation:
For I reckon that the sufferings of the present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory to come that will be revealed in us. For the eager longing of creation awaits the revelation of God. For creation was made subject to vanity—not by its own will but by reason of him who made it subject—in hope, because creation itself also will be delivered from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the sons of God. For we know that all creation groans and travails in pain until now.
Yearning of Human Beings:
And not only it, but we ourselves also who have first-fruits of the Spirit—we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption as sons, the redemption of the body. For in hope were we saved. But hope that is seen is not hope. For how can a man hope for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.
The Holy Spirit Aids Us:
But in like manner the Spirit also helps our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself pleads for us with unutterable groanings, And he who searched the hearts knows what the Spirit desires, that he pleads for the same according to God.
God’s Designs:
Now we know that for those who love God all things work together unto good, for those who, according to his purpose, are saints through his call. For those whom he has foreknown he has also predestined to become conformed to the image of his Son, that he should be the firstborn among many brethren. And those whom he has predestined, them he has also called; and those whom he has called, them he has also justified, and those whom he has justified, then he has also glorified.
Unshakable Hope in God:
What then shall we say in these things? God is for us, who is against us? He who has not spared even his own Son but has delivered him for us all, how can he fail to grant us also all things with him? Who shall make accusation against the elect of God? It is God who justifies! Who shall condemn? It is Christ Jesus who died; yes, and rose again, he who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us!
Indomitable Love of Christ.
Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or hunger, or nakedness, or danger, or the sword? Even as it is written, “For thy sake we are put to death all the day long. We are regarded as sheep for the slaughter.” But in all these things we overcome because of him who has loved us. For I am sure that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, not things present, nor things to come, not powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
I lied! Only one comment—the Spirit of God makes us and the Love of Jesus inseparable. Amen! Alleluia!
Day 140: Reading The Bible with a TROML Perspective; The Spirit of God makes Us and the Love of Jesus Inseparable.
Read and inspired by the New Testament, The Epistle of Saint Paul The Apostle to the Romans, Chapters 6-8.
Bible Notes:
Saint Paul in this letter gives the fullest explanation of his doctrine. In the first eleven chapters he explains that justification is through faith in Christ and not through the works of the Jewish Law. The last five chapters are directions for the conduct of a Christian life.
Romans Chapter 6: Christians dead to sin; The reign of sin; Slavery to sin.
Christians Dead to Sin:
What then shall we say? Shall we continue to sin that grace may abound? By no means! For how shall we who are dead to sin still live in it?
Do you not know that all we who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into his death? For we were buried with him by means of Baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ has arisen from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we may also walk in newness of life.
For if we have been united with him in the likeness of his death, we shall be so in the likeness of his resurrection also. For we know that our old self has been crucified with him, in order that the body of sin may be destroyed, that we may no longer be slaves to sin; for he who is dead is acquitted of sin.
But if we have died with Christ, we believe that that we shall also live together with Christ; for we know the Christ, having risen from the dead, dies now no more, death shall no longer have dominion over him. For the death that he died, he died to sin once for all, but the life that he lives, he lives unto God.
Thus do you consider yourselves also as dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.
The Reign of Sin:
Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its lusts. And do not yield your members to sin as weapons of iniquity, but present yourselves to God as those who have come to life from the dead and your members as weapons of justice for God; for sin shall not have dominion over you, since you are not under the Law but under grace.
Slavery to Sin:
What then? Are we to sin because we are not under the Law but under grace? By no means! Do you not know that to whom you offer yourselves as slaves for obedience, to him whom you obey you are slaves, whether to sin unto death or to obedience unto justice?
But thanks be to God that you who were the slaves of sin have now obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine into which you have been delivered, and having been set free from sin, you have become the slaves of justice.
I speak in a human way because of the weaknesses of your flesh; for as you yielded your members as slaves of uncleanliness and iniquity unto iniquity, so now yield your members as slaves of justice unto sanctification.
For when you were the slaves of sin, you were free as regards justice. But what fruit had you then from those things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of these things is death.
But now set free from sin and become slaves to God, you have your fruit unto sanctification, and as your end, life everlasting. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is life everlasting in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans Chapter 7: Christians freed from the Law; The Law, the occasion of sin; Sin, the cause of death; Deliverance due to the grace of God.
Christians Freed from the Law:
Do you not know, brethren (for I speak to those who know law), that the Law has dominion over a man as long as he lives?
For the married woman is bound by the Law while her husband is alive; but if her husband die, she is set free from the law of the husband. Therefore, while her husband is alive, she will be called an adulteress if she be with another man; but if her husband dies, she is set free from the law of the husband, so that she is not an adulteress if she has been with another man.
Therefore, my brethren, you also, through the body of Christ, have been made to die to the Law, so as to belong to another who has risen from the dead, in order that we may bring forth fruit unto God. For when we were in the flesh the sinful passions, which were aroused by the Law, were at work in our members so that they brought forth fruit unto death. But now we have been set free from the Law, having died to that by which we were held down, so that we nay serve in a new spirit and not according to the outworn letter.
The Law, the Occasion of Sin:
What shall we say them? Is the Law sin? By no means! Yet I did not know sin save through the Law. For I had not known lust unless the Law had said. “Thou shalt not lust.”
But sin, having thus found an occasion, worked in me by means of the commandment all manner of lust, for without the Law sin was dead.
Once upon a time I was living without law, but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died, and the commandment that was unto life was discovered in my case to be unto death.
For sin, having taken occasion from the commandment, deceived me, and through it killed me. So that the Law indeed is holy and the commandment holy and just and good.
Sin, the Cause of Death:
Did then that which is good become death to me? By no means! But sin, that it might be manifest as sin, worked death for me through that which is good, in order that sin by reason of the commandment might become immeasurably sinful.
For we know that the Law is spiritual but I am carnal, sold into the power of sin. For I do not understand what I do, for it is not what I wish that I do, but what I hate that I do. But if I do what I do not wish, I admit that the Law is good.
Now therefore it is no longer I who do it, but the sin that dwells in me. For I know that in me, that is, in my flesh, no good dwells, because to wish is within my power, but I do not find the strength to accomplish what is good.
For I do not the good that I wish, but the evil that I do not wish, that I perform. Now if I do what I do not wish, it is no longer I who do it, but the sin that dwells in me.
Therefore, when I wish to do good I discover this law, namely, that evil is at hand for me. For I am delighted with the law of God according to the inner man, but I see another law in my members, warning against the law of my mind and making me prisoner to the law of sin that is in my members.
Deliverance due to the Grace of God:
Unhappy man that I am! Who will deliver me from the body of this death? The grace of God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Therefore I myself with my mind serve the law of God, but with my flesh the law of sin.
Romans Chapter 8: The faithful need fear no condemnation; The flesh and the spirit; A solemn warning; The faithful sons of God; Yearning of all creation; Yearning of human beings; The Holy Spirit aids us; God’s designs; Unshakable hope in God; Indomitable love of Christ.
The Faithful Need Fear no Condemnation:
There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, who so not walk according to the flesh.
For the law of the Spirit of the life In Christ Jesus has delivered me from the law of sin and death.
For what was impossible to the Law, in that it was weak because of the flesh, God has made good. By sending his Son in the likeness of sinful flesh as a sin-offering, he has condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the requirements of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the spirit.
The Flesh and The Spirit:
Now they who are according to the flesh mind the things of the flesh, but they who are according to the spirit mind the things of the spirit.
For the inclination of the flesh is death, but the inclination of the spirit, life and peace.
For the wisdom of the flesh is hostile to God, for it is not the subject to the law of God, nor can it be. And they who are carnal cannot please God. You, however, are not carnal but spiritual, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ.
But if Christ is in you, the body, it is true, is dead by reason of sin, but the spirit is life by reason of justification.
But if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, then he who raised Jesus from the dead will also bring to life your mortal bodied because of his Spirit who dwells in you.
A Solemn Warning:
Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, that we should live according to the flesh, for if you live according to the flesh you will die: but if by the spirit you put to death the deeds of the flesh, you will live.
The Faithful Sons of God:
For whoever are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. Now you have not received a spirit of bondage so as to be again in fear, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons, by virtue of which we cry, “Abba! Father!” The Spirit himself gives testimony to our spirit that we are sons of God. But if we are sons, we are heirs also: heirs indeed of God and joint heirs with Christ, provided, however, we suffer with him that we may also be glorified with him.
Yearning of All Creation:
For I reckon that the sufferings of the present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory to come that will be revealed in us. For the eager longing of creation awaits the revelation of God. For creation was made subject to vanity—not by its own will but by reason of him who made it subject—in hope, because creation itself also will be delivered from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the sons of God. For we know that all creation groans and travails in pain until now.
Yearning of Human Beings:
And not only it, but we ourselves also who have first-fruits of the Spirit—we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption as sons, the redemption of the body. For in hope were we saved. But hope that is seen is not hope. For how can a man hope for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.
The Holy Spirit Aids Us:
But in like manner the Spirit also helps our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself pleads for us with unutterable groanings, And he who searched the hearts knows what the Spirit desires, that he pleads for the same according to God.
God’s Designs:
Now we know that for those who love God all things work together unto good, for those who, according to his purpose, are saints through his call. For those whom he has foreknown he has also predestined to become conformed to the image of his Son, that he should be the firstborn among many brethren. And those whom he has predestined, them he has also called; and those whom he has called, them he has also justified, and those whom he has justified, then he has also glorified.
Unshakable Hope in God:
What then shall we say in these things? God is for us, who is against us? He who has not spared even his own Son but has delivered him for us all, how can he fail to grant us also all things with him? Who shall make accusation against the elect of God? It is God who justifies! Who shall condemn? It is Christ Jesus who died; yes, and rose again, he who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us!
Indomitable Love of Christ.
Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or hunger, or nakedness, or danger, or the sword? Even as it is written, “For thy sake we are put to death all the day long. We are regarded as sheep for the slaughter.” But in all these things we overcome because of him who has loved us. For I am sure that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, not things present, nor things to come, not powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
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