Do Do

This week we are in the famous “do do” passage of Romans 7. This interlude passage helps us understand our present struggle as we await our eschatological hope in Christ’s return. We live in a tension, a struggle, in our present body between sin and righteousness. In chapter 6, Paul taught us that we are united with Christ and therefore sin no longer has dominion over us (Rom. 6:14). Chapter 7 helps us understand the reality we live in having been freed from sin but still awaiting our future hope of deliverance from sin once and for all. 

Paul uses illustrations for us to understand our current state of union with Christ: being widowed, law, and body of death.

“Until Death Do We Part” – Being Widowed – Romans 7:1-6

It’s a traditional vow that has been spoken at weddings for millennia, “until death do we part.” One reason I really appreciate John Piper’s book, This Momentary Marriage, is because he reminds us that marriage is a temporary arrangement broken by death. Understanding the temporary nature of marriage caused by death is to lead a couple to redeeming the time they have together. However, when a spouse dies the covenant is fulfilled and the surviving spouse is under no further obligation. This has been an understood acknowledgement throughout history, that the surviving spouse is free to remarry without fear of committing adultery. 

Paul leans on this tradition to illustrate the significance of dying to sin and the law and living for Christ. Having been released from the law through death, we are united with Christ through grace (Rom. 7:6). Paul uses the legal language for us to understand emancipation from the law of sin, and having been set free, the joy of freely accepting a new covenant in Christ. Legally sin has no dominion over you since you are now under grace (Rom. 6:14). 

“Who turned the Lights on?” – Is the Law sin? – Romans 7:7-12

Have you ever tried to navigate a dark room or building where you could only see shapes or outlines of objects? On several occasions throughout the years I have shut the lights off in the church on my way out and forgot something. Rather than turning all the lights on again, I try to navigate through the darkness and retrieve the forgotten item and navigate back to the door. The only light is the red hue from the exit sign or the dim light coming from the exterior building lights. It is easy to bump into things, trip, and stumble in the darkness.

Imagine that was your entire existence: darkness. There is a freedom in ignorance and sense of being “alive apart from the law/light” in one sense, but that is only in one’s perception. I am reminded of Plato’s Allegory of the Cave and how the prisoners in the dark refused to believe the report that there was a whole world they were missing out on. They thought they were living but they were missing life. 

In the darkness of this world sin existed apart from the revelation of the law but we did not have a framework for understanding it. Paul uses the example of covetousness not being known until the law commanded “do not covet.” Ignorance of not knowing what defined covetousness does not mean that covetousness did not exist, he was just unaware of his carnal condition. However, the Law brought in a definition to sin and therefore “turned the lights on” to the truth of our sinful condition. When the lights are on everything in the room is in full display. 

In Plato’s allegory of the cave he discusses the prisoner released from the chains and his struggle to understand and comprehend what was going on outside of the cave. His eyes and mind had to adjust to this new reality. Paul continues to unpack this process in the next section as he uses the imagery of “the body of death”. 

“Which one are you feeding?” – Body of Death – Romans 7:13-25

Let me leapfrog this section for a moment. Paul’s question “who will deliver me from this body of death” is a profound illustration that is worthy of mentioning here. The flesh or body of death that is being described is the old nature that we continually battle in this life that will continue to pester us until Christ returns. Remember we live in the eschatological reality of “already not yet,” meaning that our salvation has been secured in the past, is being worked out in the present, and will be fully experienced in the future at Christ’s return. In one sense, we already have been delivered from sin, yet in another sense (one we are all too aware of) we are still struggling with it. 

When Paul says “delivered from the body of death” he is referring to a disturbing practice that the Romans used as a form of torture and death referred to in a poem by Virgil, a first century Roman poet, The Aeneid:

The living and the dead at his command,

Were coupled, face to face, and hand to hand,

Till, chokʼd with stench, in loathʼd embraces tied,

The lingʼring wretches pinʼd away and died.

The Romans would tie a rotting corpse to a living prisoner and allow the decay of the corpse to infect the living until ultimately death would overtake the prisoner. No need to go into further detail but it is an apt description of the body of death, our old sin nature, that is temporarily still bound to us causing sin’s sickness and decay to still plague our existence. The body of death is dead and we are no longer slaves to it, but we are still awaiting the time until it will be cut away and we will be fully free from it. 

The evidence of this body of death is the war that wages in the believer’s heart, mind, and actions that Paul describes in what I like to call the “do do” passage: Romans 7:13-20. With phrases like “that which I want to do, I don’t do, and that which I do not want I do do,” Paul reveals an internal struggle that is all too familiar. Living in the in between, the believer wrestles and struggles against sin, learning obedience and being conformed into the image of Christ. However, we fail and fall at times, needing discipline to learn righteousness (Heb. 12:11). Thankfully we have a gracious heavenly Father who is patient, compassionate, and will kindly deal with our frailty (read Ps. 103). 

These verses remind me of the Tale of Two Wolves. The truth is this, that our present condition is a struggle between the old man (one wolf) and the new man (the other wolf), so which one will win? The one that we feed. 

Consider your life, which dog are you feeding? The flesh? How do we feed the flesh? We give into our desires and give into sin. We binge watch Netflix, or scroll through hours of reels, or post selfies on Instagram, or listen to ungodly music, or read explicit books, or…the list can go on. Hours of our day and week are dedicated to absorbing things that feed the body of death.

Or are you learning to grow in the spiritual disciplines and feeding the new man that has been made alive in Jesus Christ? Why would you go back to the former slavery when you can be free from sin? Prioritizing your time with Jesus through prayer and reading the Bible, memorizing Scripture, telling others about Jesus, spending time with fellow believers, going to youth group, attending church, and recognizing the presence of Jesus is with you always, to name a few. 

If you are a believer in Jesus Christ, you are set free from sin and the Law, and are united to Christ through grace. You have a new nature that needs to be fed and strengthened while learning to die to the old man until Jesus returns and cuts away the old body of death forever. Let’s conclude with Paul’s description of all of this in his letter to Titus,

For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works (Titus 2:11–14).

 

Slaves to Rigtheousness

Romans 6:17–18

But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness.

As we continue our series through the book of Romans exploring how the righteousness of God reveals a new humanity (5-8), a new family, through the Gospel of Jesus Christ, tonight we pick back up in Romans 6:15-23. Paul continues his clarification of sanctification and the Christian perspective on sin, the law, grace, and righteousness. 

There was a misunderstanding of the Christian’s relationship to the law and sin regarding the grace of God in the First Century. Some were teaching that the more we sin the more grace we receive therefore God looks even more gracious. Last week we looked at how the beginning of Romans 6 debunks this thought. The Christian should not and cannot continue in sin, that would be a complete misunderstanding of the grace of God. This week’s passage shows another misunderstanding where people thought they could sin because they were no longer under the law but under grace. Paul’s response once again is “By no means!” or “God forbid!” or “May it never be!” 

Anytime a Christian is trying to justify, rationalize, and defend sin they are missing the point. The apostle John tells us, “You know that he appeared in order to take away sins, and in him there is no sin” (1 John 3:5). The whole point that Jesus came for is to set us free from sin and death and restore us to a right relationship with the Father. Any teaching that encourages or permits sin is wrong. 

Christians will sin at times, but their life should not be characterized by sin. When a Christian sins, they should respond with repentance knowing God will forgive them and restore them. However, they must be careful to not excuse sin because they “know” God will forgive them. There is a significant shift between the understanding that “when I sin God will forgive” to “God will forgive so I can sin.” One is the Gospel; the other is demonic. God forgave us in Christ so that we will no longer sin.

God’s work in our hearts is a transformative work that frees us from slavery to sin to become slaves to righteousness (Rom. 6:17-18). There is a key phrase in these verses, “obedient from the heart”. The heart refers to our desires and loyalties. Learning to love Jesus will result in obedience and righteousness. When we sin, we show that, at least momentarily, we are desiring something or someone above Jesus. When we learn to love Jesus above all else, we will happily give up what is keeping us from fully experiencing Jesus. When we understand his will for our lives and fully pursue Jesus, we will understand that being a slave to righteousness is the most free way to live. 

Union With Christ - Romans 6:1-14

Are you a sports fan? If so, have you ever dressed in your team’s gear on game day and rejoiced after a victory with the celebration of “We won!”? The obvious answer is yes; that is what it means to be a fan. We identify with our team. However, the reality is that I sat on my couch eating chips and did absolutely nothing to affect my team’s ability to win or lose the game. I didn’t win, the team did. This is one example of social identity we regularly slip into to use group achievement to bolster our self-esteem. 

This identification is fluid based on the season or sport and is effective as long as our team is winning. It’s been a rough go as a Browns fan! Well, there is always next year, right? Haha (Isn’t it amazing how much power sports have over our attitudes, moods, and self-image?!) I could say that during football season, as a fan I am “in the Browns” or “united with the Browns.” I cheer for, follow, watch, talk about, and discuss Browns. During the Browns season I will adjust my plans according to game day, I will spend money on gear, games, and food. Being united with the Browns as a fan does have some impact on my life but it is fleeting and temporary, and the Browns like to lose. If being a sports fan becomes my sole identity, then I better prepare for life to be a roller coaster of emotions without any stability. 

The apostle Paul, in the Book of Romans, has been building the foundation of the Gospel, the Good News of Jesus Christ, and how it reveals a new humanity. What do we mean by a new humanity? We are born into a sinful world, dead in our trespasses and sins, enemies of God, and therefore spiritually unaware of our desperate need for a Savior. We are born “in Adam” united in sin. Therefore, Jesus said, “You must be born again” (John 3:3). Jesus continues to tell Nicodemus about the need for spiritual birth, or regeneration. When God brings us to life spiritually, we become a “new kind of humanity” who are spiritually alive in Christ. 

The phrase “in Christ” is the most common occurrence in Scripture to refer to the believer’s “Union with Christ” and will be our focus for our lesson in Romans 6:1-14. In Romans 6, Paul uses several phrases to capture our attention about our union with Christ: baptized into Christ Jesus, baptized into his death, united with him in death, united with him in the resurrection, died with Christ, live with him, in Christ Jesus. Paul wants us to understand that our identity has changed from old to new. 

Roman 6 is one of the reasons that we at Lakeside hold to a “believer’s baptism by immersion,” as we saw a couple of weeks ago when Will was baptized. The Greek word for baptism (baptizo) literally means to dip into water or immerse. A very common use of the word referred to soaking the fabric in dye to transform its color. Have you ever made a tie-dyed shirt? Or maybe colored Easter Eggs? You immerse fabric or an egg into a dye that permanently changes the identity of the fabric or egg. Similarly, when we come to Christ in faith, we are changed permanently. Coming to faith in Christ is to come alive spiritually and be united with Christ being washed by his blood. Baptism is a picture of this, being buried with Christ in his death, and being raised to life again to newness of life in him (Rom. 6:4). 

Union with Christ refers to our relationships with him and our new identity through him. One of the clearest verses in Scriptures concerning the implications of union with Christ is 2 Corinthians 5:21, “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”  

This is the doctrine of imputation as Jesus took our sins on himself and put his righteousness on us. He takes off our filthy, ragged, and torn coat and wraps us in clothes of his righteousness, purity, and perfection. Understand that sin is forensic and native to us, our legal standing on our own is deserving of eternal damnation. Yet when we are united with Christ, we are given an alien righteousness and position because of the finished work of Christ on the cross. 

Our union with Christ is why we no longer stand condemned as we see in Romans 8:1 “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” This is the doctrine of justification, to be declared righteous before God. Justification is not only being forgiven of sin, but it is also receiving the righteousness and standing of Jesus Christ (Gal. 3:29; Rom. 8:17). So we are justified by the imputed righteousness of Christ for the purpose of our sanctification.

Sanctification is an amazing dynamic byproduct of our union with Christ. Sanctification means to be “set apart.” If you are an athlete, then you have shoes or equipment that you only use for your sport. If you are a chef or cook, then you have knives and utensils that are set apart for specific purposes. We know what it means to set apart objects, clothing, or utensils for specific purposes and sanctification is the word used to refer to God setting us apart for himself. Sanctification is a three-part word for believers: past, present, and future. 

The moment you came to salvation in Jesus Christ you were sanctified being united with Christ, this means that God declared you holy. 2 Corinthians 5:17a describes this reality, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.” Union with Christ means you are a new creation, you have been made new, and you are spiritually alive. However, we all know the struggle with sin does not disappear when we become Christians, which means we need further sanctification.

In the present, we participate, or live out our union with Christ, by seeking further sanctification. 2 Corinthians 5:17b describes this as “The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” The Greek tense of this verse is the “old is passing away continually, the new is continually growing.” The reality is we are all in the process of being sanctified and learning holiness. Paul focuses in on this aspect in Romans 6 describing the believer’s death to sin and living unto righteousness. Our union with Christ is a compelling reason to do away with sin. Our union with Christ means that we are no longer slaves to sin. Our union with Christ means we can walk in the newness of life. 

The apostle John wrote in 1 John 3:6, 8b-9

No one who abides in him keeps on sinning; no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him…The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil. No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God’s seed abides in him; and he cannot keep on sinning, because he has been born of God.

John uses the words “abide in him” to describe our union with Christ. Abide means to dwell with, to remain in close proximity. When we stay close to Jesus, we won’t continue in sin. Jesus came to destroy sin, so those who are born again cannot keep on sinning. 

Jesus describes this union with him as a branch united with the vine:

John 15:3–7

Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.

Again, we see the word “abide” being used to describe our union with Christ. Jesus referred to us as branches who bear fruit when we stay connected to him. When we stay in close proximity with Jesus we will bear fruit. If we step back and consider our lives, have we grown to be more like Jesus? Or do we look more like the world? Are we abiding in Jesus and allowing our union with Him to change us? A true relationship with Jesus changes us from the inside out in such a way that the evidence of our faith will be seen. 

The Good News is that salvation and union with Christ is by grace and not by the law. Ephesians 2:8–9 “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” With Paul’s emphasis on grace, some began to teach that keeping the law was not important. They began teaching that you can continue in sin because God will forgive you anyway. They taught that sinning a lot was a way to see the abundance of God’s grace. This teaching was called antinomianism and is wrong. This was why Paul was so forceful at the beginning of Romans 6, “What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means!” To think we can continue in sin is to completely miss the gospel. Understanding our union with Christ is foundation for us to walk away from sin and walk in newness of life with Christ. 

This does not mean that a Christian won’t fall into sin, it means a Christian won’t walk in sin again. When we fall, we repent and continue walking with Christ, “a righteous man falls seven times and rises again” (Prov. 24:16). A Christian’s life should not be characterized by sin but by Christ for sin has no dominion over the believer (Rom. 6:14) because he conquered death and sin (Rom. 6:10-11).

There is so much more to being united in Christ and you would do well to look throughout the Scriptures to understand this wonderful teaching. Abide in Christ, keep your eyes fixed on the Author and Giver of Life, and walk with him daily. To God be the Glory!