All Scripture text will be presented in normal cased lettering, and all notes within the text will be in TRUE TYPE FONT, as shown. This (I hope) will allow you to avoid confusion between God's Word and my notes. As I update this web site, I will continue to embellish the text so that anyone using NETSCAPE 3.0 or MICROSOFT 3.0 will be able to read the document easier. Greek tenses are abbreviated as follows:
Through Christ, Who taught us the way to Love: David Buffaloe, Didaskalos Ministries
Romans 6:1-4 "What shall we say then? Shall
we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall
we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein? Know ye not, that so
many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?
Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ
was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also
should walk in newness of life."
These series of verses were specifically directed at the Gnostics,
a cultic offshoot of Christianity who taught that "Now we are saved we
are free to sin". Paul's answer to the Gnostics and all other hedonists
was "Absolutely not!". God never gave salvation to the Christian
so he could act like a dog. In the pre-fallen state (in the Garden) man
had the power to choose freely between good and evil. After Adam fell (and
drug the human race into sin with him) man lost that freedom. We were all
literally slaves to sin.
John 8:34-36 "Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin. And the servant abideth not in the house for ever: but the Son abideth ever. If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed."
The word servant is the Greek DOULOS, which means "A Slave". Man became an unwitting slave to do that which was evil. The drug addict will choose the needle over the Bible. The common sinner will head for a psychiatrist or a counselor before he goes to the Great Physician. We were sin's servants. The Cross of Christ, once we believed on it's sacrifice, caused our re-creation. From that point on we were given strength over sin, a choice to do either the unnatural sin (which still feels so natural) or to do the natural Divine good. Since we were freed from the immutable bondage of sin, Paul asks, how can we want to live any longer therein? It makes no sense to go back to the terrible demands of Master Sin when the Good Master Jesus offers a much better way.
We were brought out from under the dominion of sin by being baptized into Jesus Christ. Baptized is the Greek BAPTIZO which means "To immerse or completely submerge in so as to become identified with". This reference to Baptism does not allude to water Baptism, but to our unity with Christ because we have accepted Him as Savior. In ancient times warriors used to BAPTIZO their spears in pig's blood to identify the spear as a weapon of war. We who are believers have, in God's eyes, been completely immersed in the work of the Cross so that we are identified as "little Christs". We are spiritually righteous before Him because of what Jesus did, spiritually free because of His completed work. We are indwelt by the Spirit because of this identification with Christ, and are freed from sin's control because of this identification. For this very reason we who are believers should strive to walk in newness of life, that is, walk like saved princes, not like lost dogs.
Romans 6:5-6 "For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection: Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin."
When Christ died on the Cross He died specifically for the sins of David Buffaloe. He died specifically for your sins, too. When we accept His sacrifice by faith our sins are killed. The sinful nature is crucified with Christ, our desire to do only sin was killed. Before Christ I was one man under one master, master sin. After Christ I was one man under one Master, the Lord God Almighty, with a (still existent) sin nature that no longer controlled my every thought. When Paul realized the wonder of what Christ gave us, the freedom to serve righteousness rather than sin, he wrote:
Galatians 2:20 "I am crucified with
Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the
life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God,
who loved me, and gave himself for me."
The Bible teaches the specific and personal atonement of Christ.
Jesus died specifically for everyone who would believe. He died
for me on the Cross though I had not yet been born, and His death was waiting
to pay for my sins while I had yet come to know Him. Yet even beyond this,
His work extended beyond just paying for my sins, but imparted the Holy
Spirit to me so that I might be able to live a life more pleasing to God.
You see, Christianity isn't just a religion, it's a method of life, a means
to a relationship with our Creator. The old me died with Christ and I am
now reborn, able to choose the good over the evil. This is true for every
Christian: Christ liveth in me.
...that the body of sin might be destroyed..
The word body is
the Greek SOMA, a reference to the human body. The believer's body prior
to salvation was possessed by sin, enslaved to the sin nature within us.
Remember our earlier lessons, we discussed the bondage of the soul and
spiritual death that is on all mankind prior to salvation. The Scripture
teaches that mankind is universally enslaved to sin, and we were
all literally spiritual corpses. Paul alludes to this spiritual deficit
with the phrase body of sin.
We were so possessed by sin, so enslaved to it's effects, that we became
identified by that which we were given over to. We were sin. Every
generation without Christ was and will always be sin. Many misguided souls
emphasize that television and violence in the media has corrupted our children
and given rise to the increase in violence in our society. Perhaps there
is some truth in this. But our obsession with violence in the media has
masked the fact that all without Christ are spiritually dead, prone
to sin with or without outside influences.
Removing violence from the media is not the answer for society's ills. The violence is a symptom of the problem, not the problem itself. The answer is for man to turn to Christ, to accept the freedom of the Atonement. Once we are crucified with Christ we are returned to a state where we can control our impulses toward sin. We have our eyes opened so that we should not serve sin.
Romans 6:7-10 "For he that is dead is freed from sin. Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him: Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him. For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God."
The first statement of this text says it all: If we are truly dead to sin, then we are freed from the bondage of sin, just as a physical corpse is freed from sin. The Christian has a new nature. To sin is to go against this newly acquired nature.
Galatians 5:24-25 "And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit."
Colossians 3:2-10 "Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory. Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry: For which things' sake the wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience: In the which ye also walked some time, when ye lived in them. But now ye also put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth. Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds; And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him:"
1 Peter 2:24-25 "Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed. For ye were as sheep going astray; but are now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls."
Before salvation we were all dead to righteousness (no, you can't work your way to Heaven). After salvation we are all alive to righteousness, able to resist sin and the devil's temptations. We are in an Adamic state, free to choose. Being free why would we want to return to that which destroyed us in our past? No sane and rational person would want such a thing!
he died unto sin once. Paul also emphasizes that Christ's work on the Cross was efficacious, complete, needing nothing added to it by anyone. Christ, even from the torture of the Cross, said that the work was complete:
John 19:30 "When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost."
The natural man, on reading the above verse, interprets
Christ's statement as one of abject failure: "I am now defeated, I must
die". Yet when you compare this statement with:
Luke 23:46 "And when Jesus had cried
with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit:
and having said thus, he gave up the ghost."
We see that Jesus' statement It is finished could not have referred to His life now ending. Jesus commented on His coming death in the entirely separate statement into thy hands I commend my spirit. Jesus statement could only have referred to His completed work of Atonement. We see this is further supported by the context of Luke:
Luke 23:44-45 "And it was about the sixth hour, and there was a darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour. And the sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was rent in the midst."
Christ's work on the Cross was ended, and man could now enter into a new relationship with his Creator because of it. The renting of the veil of the temple was significant because this act by the Father showed:
Exodus 28:33-35 "And beneath upon the hem of it thou shalt make pomegranates of blue, and of purple, and of scarlet, round about the hem thereof; and bells of gold between them round about: A golden bell and a pomegranate, a golden bell and a pomegranate, upon the hem of the robe round about. And it shall be upon Aaron to minister: and his sound shall be heard when he goeth in unto the holy place before the LORD, and when he cometh out, that he die not."
This veil therefore symbolized the great and unclimbable barrier of sin that stood between God and man. This veil kept mankind away from God's presence. When Christ died on the Cross He bore the penalty for each and every one of our sins, and literally demolished the barrier. His death was sufficient and efficacious, so much so that the Father took the veil of the Temple and tore it in two, demonstrating once and for all that it was truly a complete work. As our Romans text states, he died unto sin once. Since He died once, and this death was satisfactory (as shown by the torn veil), then Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more. It is finished.
Hebrews 9:15, 24-26 "And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance. For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us: Nor yet that he should offer himself often, as the high priest entereth into the holy place every year with blood of others; For then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. "
1 Timothy 2:5-6 "For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time. "
Before we were saved there was a veil of sin between us and God, a tough fabric so thick that no man could tear it. Yet Christ, by His sacrifice, tore this veil, so that after salvation we can now enter into the presence of God to pray and fellowship. Where before there was a heavy veil, now Christ stands in the gap helping facilitate our communion with the Father. As our Intercessor Jesus stands between us and the Father to testify that we have been paid for, we are no longer the condemned. The difference between Christianity and the "religions" of the world is that Our Savior lives to ever make intercession for us. The bones of Buddha lay in a revered grave site, loved by many. The bones of Mohammed lie in a grave, decaying though worshipped. But Christ's bones are not in the grave: He is not here, He is risen! And risen He sits on the right hand of the Father, forever interceding for those who have believed on His work.
Romans 6:11-12 "Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof."
Here is the sum of the equation: Christ died for us, so in the eyes of God (positionally - we are in Christ) we are sinless. We are also given power, just as Adam had power, to choose good or evil, righteousness or sin. We have been freed so that we have a choice. Since we are free, Paul argues that we should choose the right over the wrong. What slave, once freed, would want to go back to his old master?
A few years ago I was watching a mini-series on television called "Roots". The main character (I'll probably spell this wrong) Kunta Kinte was captured by slavers and taken to America totally against his will. Throughout the series he repeatedly kept escaping from his master until, at the end, some cruel men "hobbled" him so he couldn't run anymore. Even then he desired freedom, desired it until his dying day.
Believers, we are freed from sin's control. Before salvation we were under it's strict control, doing it's whim even when we knew it not. Sure, we rationalized our actions. We divided sins into BIG and (little) categories, and justified every action that we did. Did I tell a lie? Well, it was only a little white lie, hurting no one. Yet to God it was sin.
Now that we are free from sin's domination, we are free to choose to live righteously or to sin. God never desired to create a race of robots to serve Him. He wanted us to serve and love Him willingly, so He left our free will intact. We can, however, fall back into sin by willingly letting it back into our lives. Paul warns, Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body. Reign is the Greek BASILEUO, which means "To exercise kingly power". By allowing sin to creep back into our lives we can slowly hand ourselves back over to that old master Sin. To a large degree each believer in Christ controls his earth Sanctification, his spiritual intensity before the Creator. Paul warned the Corinthians:
1 Corinthians 6:11-12 "And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God. All things are lawful unto me, but all things are not expedient: all things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any."
As believers we are free to choose the less desirable path for out lives. We can choose to fall outside of the Plan of God. I am free now to choose, yet as a believer I need to be careful how I choose lest I be brought under the power of Sin. We are cleansed, we are free, yet we must be careful what we partake of. We can voluntarily place ourselves back under the control of sin once again by making bad spiritual choices. Realize this and stop giving the victory to Satan! You have the power to choose against Sin.
Romans 6:13-14 "Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God. For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace. "
In our earlier lessons we discovered that the Law:
2 Peter 2:19-22 "While they promise them liberty, they themselves are the servants of corruption: for of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in bondage. For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning. For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them. But it is happened unto them according to the true proverb, The dog is turned to his own vomit again; and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire."
2 Corinthians 5:5-7, 17 "Now he that hath wrought us for the selfsame thing is God, who also hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit. Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord: (For we walk by faith, not by sight:) ...Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. "
Titus 3:5-9 "Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour; That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life. This is a faithful saying, and these things I will that thou affirm constantly, that they which have believed in God might be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable unto men. But avoid foolish questions, and genealogies, and contentions, and strivings about the law; for they are unprofitable and vain."
The legalist ignores the power of Grace by ignoring the work which God, in His Almighty power, has done through us. The Christian has power over sin for, though he still has an inclination toward it's devices, he is no longer in bondage to it. You see, believers, we tend to look at the Church membership list and equate "salvation" with being on that list. Just because a person has "walked the aisle" and made a public profession of faith in Christ, this doesn't necessarily mean that that individual has really accepted Christ as Savior in his heart. Some people, like those Peter spoke of in our 2 Peter passage, came into the Church. They, outwardly, appeared to be saved, yet inwardly had never truly accepted Christ as Savior. How do I know this from the context? Because Peter quoted the proverb dog is turned to his own vomit again. When you accept Christ as Savior you undergo a change. You are no longer a dog, but now you are a child of the King. There are many in our Churches today, chameleons who blend in with the Christian crowd, coming to Church because it appears to be the acceptable practice. It looks good for the family, for the dad who was promoted to Deacon, for the wife who is a faithful attendee. We as humans see these outward signs and assume that they are saved, but only God, Who knows the heart of man, knows whether they are saved or not. The person who goes forward in Church a dog, kneels at the altar a dog, and who gets up and returns to his seat a dog is still just an unsaved person on the rolls of the Church! The Christian is the person who goes forward a dog, kneels at the altar a dog, and who gets up and returns to his seat a Child of the King. To just "know of" God is not enough. You must believe to be saved, and only God knows your heart. And once you have believed, you have changed. As Paul put it, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature. A new creature with a new status before God. A believer is a child of God, engineered by God with a predisposition to do His Will.
Ephesians 4:30 "And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption."
Though the Christian may voluntarily sin (though not under the slavery of sin, we may allow it's presence in our lives), doing so grieves the holy Spirit within us. The Holy Spirit indwells each and every believer, softly guiding our lives, making us uncomfortable when we do that which we know we should not have done. He gently calls the sinning believer back into fellowship. If we reject this call the Father takes harsher steps to return the sinning believer to fellowship.
Hebrews 12:6-11 "For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons. Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live? For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness. Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby."
God the Father actively punishes the believer who ignores the return call of the Spirit. The Bible says that He scourgeth the disobedient child. Scourging is an interesting word in this context, for historically it stood for the worst form of non lethal punishment that the Roman Empire handed out to the disobedient. Twenty-five lashes with the scourge, which was a braided whip with pieces of broken pottery woven into it's cords, could do permanent injury to the one being punished. Thirty lashes could literally kill a healthy man. When the believer falls into sin the Father doesn't automatically use the scourge. The Spirit begins coaching and calling for repentance and, if the believer repents, the matter is settled. But if the believer ignores the indwelling Call the Father resorts to the scourge. Not a literal whip, mind you, but by an increasing level of trials and hardships in the believer's life. When Paul said the believer shall not be under the dominion of sin, this is one of the reasons that we shall not stay in sin. God demands that we get away from it, if we are His children.
1 John 5:16 "If any man see his brother sin a sin which is not unto death, he shall ask, and he shall give him life for them that sin not unto death. There is a sin unto death: I do not say that he shall pray for it. "
The Bible makes it clear here, and in numerous other passages (1 Corinthians 5; 1 Corinthians 11) that the believer can move so far out of fellowship that God will ultimately take his life if he will not repent. This is the "Sin unto Death". When God takes the believer from this life under the sin unto death, that believer still inherits the Kingdom of God. He still goes to be with the Lord, though he may stand before the Judgment Seat of Christ rewardless. Grace is much more powerful than the Law, though the relationship we have with the Father now is much more intimate and the repercussions of falling away much more painful. A police officer in the room is a much greater deterrent than a whole library of Law journals!
Romans 6:15-16 "What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid. Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?"
Under Grace, are we free to sin? Paul's response to such a question is incredulous, amazed. Why on earth, once we have been released from bondage to sin, would any believer willingly want to fall back into it's trappings? The answer: No one who is truly a believer would seek out such an imprisoned estate! Paul said, "to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey". If you claim to be a Christian, yet have forsaken God for the bondage of the world, then are you truly saved? Examine your hearts! If you spend more time in sin than in God's Work, then are you saved? If you spend no time in His Word and all your time watching the world through the eyes of the television, what does this say of your relationship. Or as Jesus put it:
Luke 6:43-46 "For a good tree bringeth not forth corrupt fruit; neither doth a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. For every tree is known by his own fruit. For of thorns men do not gather figs, nor of a bramble bush gather they grapes. A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh. And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?"
If, in your life, you are producing only corrupt fruit, and you have not seen God's chastisement for it, then, my friend, you are not of the Kingdom. If you are enslaved to sin and feel no call of the Spirit to repent, you, my friend, are under bondage still and lost. For the true Believers in Christ Paul's closing words are true:
Romans 6:17-23 "But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you. Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness. I speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your flesh: for as ye have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity; even so now yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness. For when ye were the servants of sin, ye were free from righteousness. What fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed? for the end of those things is death. But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life. For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord."
Dear reader, look carefully at your life. If you are not living for
God, if you are not producing for the Kingdom, then you may not
be in Christ after all. We should each carefully examine our lives,
and work out your own salvation
with fear and trembling knowing that it
is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure
(Philippians 2:12-13). God bless you all!
.
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