Here is Waggonners notes on the verses in our study this week.

"The Grand Conclusion. Rom. 3:19-22

"Now we know that what ever things the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law; that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight; for by the law is the knowledge of sin. But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe."

What do we know?

"Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law."

To whom does it speak?
"To them who are under [within the sphere of] the law."

What is the object of its speaking?
"That every mouth may be stopped."

What circumstances cause every mouth be stopped?
"All the world may become guilty before God."

What then is the conclusion?
}
"Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight."

Why not?
"For by the law is the knowledge of sin."

What is now manifested?
"But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested."

How is righteousness manifested?
"Without the law."

Whose righteousness is it that is thus manifested?
"The righteousness of God."

What credentials has this righteousness?
"Being witnessed by the law and the prophets."

Where is it manifested?
"Unto all and upon all them that believe."

How is it manifested?
"By faith of Jesus Christ."

Within the Law .- What the verse before us really says is, "Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are in the law," or, "within the sphere or jurisdiction of the law." This is an obvious fact, and in view of what immediately follows, it is a very important fact to keep in mind.

"What the Law Saith." -The voice of the law is the voice of God. The law is the truth, because it was spoken with God's own voice. In the covenant which God made with the Jews concerning the Ten Commandments, he said of the law, "Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice." etc. Ex. 19:5.
The commandments were spoken "in the mount out of the midst of the fire, of the cloud, and of the thick darkness, with a great voice." Deut. 5:22. Therefore when the law of God speaks to a man, it is God himself speaking to that man. Satan has invented a proverb, which he has induced many people to believe, to the effect that "the voice of the people is the voice of God." This is a part of his great lie by which he causes many to think themselves above the law of God. Let every one who loves the truth, substitute for that invention of Satan the truth that the voice of the law of God is the voice of God.

Every Mouth Stopped .-The law speaks that "every mouth may be stopped." And so every mouth would be, if men would only consider that it is God that is speaking. If men realized that God himself speaks in the law, they would not be so ready to answer back when it speaks to them, and they would not frame so many excuses for not obeying it. When some servant of the Lord reads the law to people, they often seem to think that it is only man's word to which they are listening, and so they feel themselves privileged to parley, and debate, and object, and to say that, although the words are all right, they do not feel under obligation to obey, or that it is not convenient. They would not think of doing this if they heard the voice of God speaking to them. But when the law is read, it is the voice of God now just as much as it was to the Israelites who stood at the base of Sinai. People often open their mouths against it now, but the time will come when every mouth will be stopped, because "our God shall come, and shall not keep silence." Ps. 50:3. {January 16, 1896 EJW, SITI 35.29}
The Law's Jurisdiction .-What things soever the law says, it sa to them who are within its sphere, or jurisdiction. Why? "That every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God." How extensive, then, is the jurisdiction of the law? It includes every soul in the world. There is no one who is exempt from obedience to it. There is not a soul whom it does not declare to be guilty. The law is the standard of righteousness, and "there is none righteous, no, not one." {January 16, 1896 EJW, SITI 35.30}
No Justification by the Law .-"Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight; for by the law is the knowledge of sin." One of two things must be the case whenever a man is justified by the law, namely, either the man is not guilty, or else the law is a bad law. But neither of these things is true in this case. God's law is perfectly righteous, and all men are sinners. "By the law is the knowledge of sin." It is obvious that a man can not be declared righteous by the same law that declares him to be a sinner. Therefore it is a self-evident truth that by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified. {January 16, 1896 EJW, SITI 35.31}
A Double Reason .-There is a double reason why no one can be justified by the law. The first is that all have sinned. Therefore the law must continue to declare them guilty, no matter what their future life might be. No man can ever do more than his duty to God, and no possible amount of good deeds can undo one wrong act. But more than this, men have not only sinned, but they are sinful. "The carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be." Rom. 8:7. "For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary the one to the other; so that ye can not do the things that ye would." Gal. 5:17. Therefore, no matter how much a man may try to do the righteousness of the law, he will fail to find justification by it. {January 16, 1896 EJW, SITI 35.32}
Self-justification .-If one were justified by the deeds of the law, it would be because he always did all that the law requires. Note well that it would be he that did it, and not the law. It would not be that the law itself does something to justify the man, but that the man himself does the good deeds required. Therefore if a man were justified by the law, it would be because he has in him by nature all the righteousness that the law requires. He who imagines that he can do the righteousness of the law, imagines that he himself is as good as God is, because the law requires and is a statement of the righteousness of God. Therefore for a man to think that he can be justified by the law, is to think that he is so good that he needs no Saviour. Every self-righteous person, no matter what his profession, exalts himself above the law of God, and therefore identifies himself with the Papacy.
Righteousness without the Law .-Since because of man's weak and fallen condition no one can get righteousness out of the law, it is evident that if any man ever has righteousness he must get it from some other source than the law. If left to themselves and the law, men would truly be in a deplorable condition. But here is hope. The righteousness of God without the law or apart from the law, is manifested.
This reveals to man a way of salvation.

Righteousness "Manifested." -Where?-Why, of course where it most needs to be manifested, in people, that is, in a certain class described in the next verse. But it does not originate in them. The Scriptures have already shown us that no righteousness can come from man. The righteousness of God is manifested in Jesus Christ. He himself said through the prophet David: "I delight to do thy will, O my God; yea, thy law is within my heart. I have preached righteousness in the great congregation; lo, I have not refrained my lips, O Lord, thou knowest." Ps. 40:8, 9. {January 16, 1896 EJW, SITI 36.1}
"Witnessed by the Law." -Let no one imagine that in the Gospel he can ignore the law of God. The righteousness of God which is manifested apart from the law, is witnessed by the law. It is such righteousness as the law witnesses to, and commends. It must be so, because it is the righteousness which Christ revealed; and that came from the law, which was in his heart. So, although the law of God has no righteousness to impart to any man, it does not cease to be the standard of righteousness. There can be no righteousness that does not stand the test of the law. The law of God must put its seal of approval upon every one who enters heaven. {January 16, 1896 EJW, SITI 31-36.2}

This weeks lesson;

THE FAITH OF ABRAHAM
Memory Text: “Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law” (Romans 3:31).

TEXTS IN ROMANS

3:20 Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin.

3:31 Do we then make void the law through faith? Certainly not! On the contrary, we establish the law.

Abraham Justified by Faith

4:1 What then shall we say that Abraham our father has found according to the flesh?
2 For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God.
3 For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.”
4 Now to him who works, the wages are not counted as grace but as debt.

David Celebrates the Same Truth

5 But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness,
6 just as David also describes the blessedness of the man to whom God imputes righteousness apart from works:

7 “Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven,
And whose sins are covered;
8 Blessed is the man to whom the Lord shall not impute sin.”

Abraham Justified Before Circumcision

9 Does this blessedness then come upon the circumcised only, or upon the uncircumcised also? For we say that faith was accounted to Abraham for righteousness.
10 How then was it accounted? While he was circumcised, or uncircumcised? Not while circumcised, but while uncircumcised. 11 And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had while still uncircumcised, that he might be the father of all those who believe, though they are uncircumcised, that righteousness might be imputed to them also,
12 and the father of circumcision to those who not only are of the circumcision, but who also walk in the steps of the faith which our father Abraham had while still uncircumcised.

The Promise Granted Through Faith

13 For the promise that he would be the heir of the world was not to Abraham or to his seed through the law, but through the righteousness of faith.
14 For if those who are of the law are heirs, faith is made void and the promise made of no effect,
15 because the law brings about wrath; for where there is no law there is no transgression.

16 Therefore it is of faith that it might be according to grace, so that the promise might be sure to all the seed, not only to those who are of the law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all
17 (as it is written, “I have made you a father of many nations”) in the presence of Him whom he believed—God, who gives life to the dead and calls those things which do not exist as though they did;
18 who, contrary to hope, in hope believed, so that he became the father of many nations, according to what was spoken, “So shall your descendants be.”
19 And not being weak in faith, he did not consider his own body, already dead (since he was about a hundred years old), and the deadness of Sarah’s womb.
20 He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God
21 and being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform. 22 And therefore “it was accounted to him for righteousness.”

Gal 21 Is the law then against the promises of God? Certainly not! For if there had been a law given which could have given life, truly righteousness would have been by the law.
22 But the Scripture has confined all under sin, that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.

The illustration of Abraham --

Why was circumcision instituted, and why is no longer necessary?

A.T.Jones gives an answer in Adventist Review and Herald Dec. 5,1899:

"Thus Abram had received the blessing of God, which was to make him a blessing to all nations; he had received the promise of the world for an inheritance; he had received the promise of the seed in whom all nations should be blessed; he had received the righteousness of God; and God had made his covenant with him, in which he pledged himself: and all this by faith alone, utterly without circumcision, and with no mention or even hint of circumcision, or of any necessity for it....{ARSH 788.11}

"Why, then, was Abraham circumcised after he received the righteousness and the promises, and yet his true children—his children by faith—now be not circumcised? The answer is: For the simple reason that circumcision was not in the original plan. It was no part, and is no part, of the original order of God in justification or salvation. The truth is that if Abraham had continued to walk in the faith in which he walked before he was circumcised, he never would have been circumcised, nor any of his children.

But then, in the sixteenth chapter of Genesis: "Sarai said unto Abram. Behold now, the Lord hath restrained me from bearing: I pray thee, go in unto my maid; it may be that I may obtain children by her. And Abram hearkened to the voice of Sarai." Gen. 16:2. Hagar conceived and bare Ishmael. And we know, from the other scriptures, that this whole arrangement was altogether a scheme of the flesh.

"It was an effort of the flesh to do the works of the Spirit, and so was a lapse by Abram from the true faith and work of God, into unbelief and the plans of self and the works of the flesh. Then it was that circumcision came in. And it was because of this that circumcision did come in. It was a mark made in the flesh as a reminder, a humiliating reminder, of Abram's resort to the flesh; and thus also a reminder that every one who bore it must not make the same mistake that Abram did, but must remain true to the faith and work of God. {December 5, 1899 ATJ, ARSH 788-789}

"For Our Sake Also.
Romans 4:17-25"
The Signs of the Times 16, 40.
E. J. Waggoner

The fourth chapter of Romans is one of the richest in the Bible, in the hope and courage which it contains for the Christian. In Abraham we have an example of righteousness by faith, and we have set before us the wonderful inheritance promised to those who have the faith of Abraham. And this promise is not limited. The blessing of Abraham comes on the Gentiles as well as on the Jews; there is none so poor that he may not share it, for "it is of faith, that it might be by grace; to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed."

The last clause of the seventeenth verse is worthy of special attention. It contains the secret of the possibility of our success in the Christian life. It says that Abraham believed "God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were." This marks God's power; it involves creative power. God can call a thing which is not as though it existed. If a man should do that, what would you call it?-
A lie. If a man should say that a thing is, when it is not, it would be a lie. But God cannot lie. Therefore when God calls these things that be not, as though they were, it is evident that that makes them be. That is, they spring into existence at his word.
We have all heard, as an illustration of confidence, the little girl's statement that "if ma says so, it's so if it isn't so." That is exactly the case with God. Before that time spoken of as "in the beginning," there was a dreary waste of absolute nothingness; God spoke, and instantly worlds sprang into being. "By the word of the Lord were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth. . . . For he spake, and it was; he commanded, and it stood fast." Ps. 33:6-9. This is the power which is brought to view in Rom. 4:17. Now let us read on, that we may see the force of this language in this connection. Still speaking of Abraham, the apostle says:-

"Who against hope believed in hope, that he might become the father of many nations, according to that which was spoken, so shall thy seed be. And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead, when he was about a hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sarah's womb; he staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God; and being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform. And therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness." Rom. 4:18-22.

Here we learn that Abraham's faith, in God, as one who could bring things into existence by his word, was exercised with respect to his being able to create righteousness in a person destitute of it.

Those who look at the trial of Abraham's faith as relating simply to the birth of Isaac, and ending there, lose all the point and beauty of the sacred record. Isaac was only the one in whom his seed was to be called, and that seed was Christ. See Gal. 3:16. When God told Abraham that in his seed all nations of the earth should be blessed, he was preaching the gospel to him (Gal. 3:8), therefore Abraham's faith in the promise of God was direct faith in Christ as the Saviour of sinners. This was the faith which was counted to him for righteousness.


Now note the strength of that faith. The strength of his flesh was already virtually dead from age, and Sarah was in a like condition. The birth of Isaac from such a pair was nothing less than the bringing of life from the dead. It was a symbol of God's power to quicken to spiritual life those who are dead in trespasses and sins.

Abraham hoped against hope. There was no human possibility of the fulfillment of the promise; everything was against it, but his faith grasped and rested upon the unchanging word of God, and God's power to create and to make alive. "And therefore it was imputed unto him for righteousness." Now for the point of it all:-

"Now it was not written for his sake alone, that it was imputed to him; but for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead; who was delivered for our offenses, and was raised again for our justification." Rom. 4:23-25.


So Abraham's faith was the same that ours must be, and in the same object. The fact that it is by faith in the death and resurrection of Christ that we have the same righteousness imputed to us that was imputed to Abraham, shows that Abraham's faith was likewise in the death and resurrection of Christ.

All the promises of God to Abraham were for us as well as for him. Indeed, we are told in one place that they were specially for our benefit. "When God made promise to Abraham, because he could swear by no greater, he sware by himself." "Wherein God, willing more abundantly to show unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath; that by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us." Heb. 6:13, 17, 18. Our hope, therefore, rests upon God's promise and oath to Abraham, for that promise to Abraham, confirmed by that oath, contains all the blessings which God can possibly give to man.

But let us make this matter a little more personal before leaving it. Trembling soul, say not that your sins are so many and that you are so weak that there is no hope for you. Christ came to save the lost, and he is able to save to the uttermost those that come to God by him. You are weak, but he says, "My strength is made perfect in weakness." 2 Cor. 12:9. And the inspired record tells us of those who "out of weakness were made strong." Heb. 11:34. That means that God took their very weakness and turned it into strength. In so doing he demonstrates his power. It is his way of working. For "God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty, and base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to naught things that are; that no flesh should glory in his presence." 1 Cor. 1:27-29.

Have the simple faith of Abraham. How did he attain to righteousness?-
By not considering the deadness and powerlessness of his own body, but by being willing to grant all the glory to God, strong in faith that he could bring all things out of that which was not. You, therefore, in like manner, consider not the weakness of your own body, but the power and grace of our Lord, being assured that the same word which can create a universe, and raise the dead, can also create in you a clean heart, and make you alive unto God. And so you shall be a child of Abraham, even a child of God by faith in Christ Jesus. E. J. W.

{October 13, 1890 EJ Waggonner }

Lesson -- November 3-11

ADAM AND JESUS

Read Romans 5:1-5. On the lines below summarize Paul’s message. What can you take from that for yourself now?

5 Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; hand perseverance, character; and character, hope. Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.

Justified == accepted, forgiven,
have peace with God --

In His grace we stand -- we can approach the throne of God through Jesus without fear, and by His grace we can stand!

Have hope -- His grace will work transformation in us.

We can rejoice in tribulation knowing God is working to develop characteristics in us in that work of transformation.

rejoice in hope of the glory of God
rejoice in the awesome gift of redemption in Jesus

rejoice in the hope that the glory of God's character is being imprinted in our lives.

Romans 5
6 For when we were still without strength, 4in due time Christ died for the ungodly.
7 For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die.
8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
9 Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him.
10 For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.
11 And not only that, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation.


Waggoners Comments:

""For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly." Mark the words "without strength." There was a fixed time in the history of the world when Christ was offered on the cross of Calvary. But that was not the only time when Christ availed for the ungodly. Who are the ungodly? They are those who are "without strength." The human family has been without strength from the fall, and they are without strength today. When men find themselves without strength, Christ is to be lifted up, and he says that he will draw all men unto him. So we can look to Jesus as a crucified and risen Saviour to-day, just as much as could the disciples. {March 16, 1891 EJW}

We sometimes think that we look back to Christ and that the patriarchs and prophets looked forward to him. Is it so? We look up to Christ and so did they. We look to Christ a loving Redeemer by our side, and so did they. Said Moses to the children of Israel: "It is not in heaven, that thou shouldst say, who shall go up for us to heaven, and bring it unto us, that we may hear it, and do it? . . . But the word is very nigh unto thee, in thy mouth and in thy heart that thou mayest do it." The Word, which was Christ the Redeemer, was nigh unto them, and He is nigh unto us. {March 16, 1891 EJW, GCDB 127.5}

So in every age of the world, when men have felt themselves to be without strength, then Christ has been a Saviour to them. ...
How wonderful and how matchless is the love of God and to how great an extent was that love shown by the death of his dear Son! What had the world done to merit goodness at the hand of God? It had joined hands with the enemies of God; nothing but punishment was deserved.
Some say they cannot accept Christ because they are not worthy....
But God commended his love to us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us. Why did he die? To make us worthy; to make us complete in him. The trouble with those who say that they are not worthy is that they do not feel half unworthy enough. If they felt "without strength," then the power of Christ could avail them...
In 1 Tim. 1:15 Paul says: "This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners." That is exactly what He came for-to save sinners. "The Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost." Oh, that men would realize that they are without strength! When they reach that point, then they can have the strength of Christ. That is the strength that is worth something; it is worth everything. {March 16, 1891 EJW, GCDB}

You feel that you are one of the ungodly; then the promise is yours that Christ has died for you. You are there before him on your knees because you are a sinner, so you can have the benefit of his death. What is the benefit of that death? "Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life." Many act and talk as if Christ was dead and irrecoverably dead. Yes, He died, but He rose again and lives forever more. Christ is not in Joseph's new tomb. We have a risen Saviour. What does the death of Christ do for us? Reconciles us to God. It is the death of Christ that brings us to God. He died, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God. Now mark! It is the death of Christ that brings us to God; what is it that keeps us there?-It is the life of Christ. We are saved by His life. Now hold these words in your minds-"Being reconciled, we shall be saved by His life." {March 16, 1891 EJW, GCDB 127.11}

Christ has the life and he is the only one who has it, and he is willing to give it to us.... in John 3:36: "He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life." These are the words of the Lord Jesus Christ.

We are to believe that God has given to us eternal life in Christ. As long as we have the Son of God we have eternal life. By our faith in the word of God we bring Christ into our hearts. Is he a dead Christ? No. He lives and cannot be separated from his life. Then when we get Christ into our hearts, we get life there. He brings that life into our hearts when he comes. How thankful we ought to be to God for this. {March 16, 1891 EJW, GCDB}

In Eph. 2:4, 5, 6, and 7 we read, "But God who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in sins hath quickened us [made us alive] together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved)." {March 16, 1891 EJW, GCDB}

Notice, he hath done this, and he "hath raised us up and made us to sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus." We were dead, we are quickened, and we are raised up to sit in heavenly places with Christ Jesus.

We must have, and we can have the life of Christ today, for when he comes, he will change our vile bodies by the same power by which he has changed our hearts. The heart must be changed now. It cannot be changed except by the life of Christ coming in and abiding in it. But when Christ is in the heart, we can live the life of Christ, and then when he comes, the glory will be revealed. He was Christ when he was here upon earth, although he did not have a retinue of angels and glory visible about him. He was Christ when he was the man of sorrows. Then when he ascended, the glory was revealed. So with us. Christ must dwell in our hearts now, and when he comes and changes these bodies, then the glory will be revealed. {March 16, 1891 EJW, GCDB 127.18}

Hmmm. Will the real page 788 of {December 5, 1899 ATJ, ARSH} please stand up. I had trouble finding the passage until I discovered there are three instances of 788.1. Anyone know why the same reference given for multiple items?

I don't know -
I went to Review and Herald, December 5, 1899, and Jone's article on why Abraham and his descendants were circumcised, begins on p. 788 and continues on into page 789 -- entitled "Gal. 3 : 6-9".
It's not the first article on that page 788 of the Adventist Review and Sabbath Herald. On the same page there is information on Sunday exemptions, and persecution for anyone doing work on Sunday and wondering why a group rejecting the Sabbath was trying to validate slavery from the Bible.

The article from which post #185368 was taken doesn't begin until the third column of page 788. Maybe that explains it?

It's also quite a bit longer than what was posted above.

Ah, so what would be the correct numbering of the paragraphs for three articles starting on the same page in separate columns? 788.1, 788.1, 788.1?

I would probably start numbering all paragraphs starting in column 1. But if one article continues on another page, would there be a gap of indefinite paragraph numbers? 788.1, 788.2, 788.3 [next page] 788.27...

Time to start our next lesson--

This week we our studying Romans chapter six.

OVERCOMING SIN

Romans 6 Dead to Sin, Alive to God

6:1 What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? 2 Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it? 3 Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? 4 Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.

5 For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, 6 knowing this, that jour old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. 7 For he who has died has been freed from sin. 8 Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, 9 knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him. 10 For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. 11 Likewise you also, 3reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts. 13 And do not present your members as 4instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as 4instruments of righteousness to God. 14 For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace.











What is the most integral part of the texts under discussion?

"Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death"

What does that mean?
When we read this passage the first thing we need to understand is that our dying to sin is the result of our union with Christ. Because He died to sin, we die to sin. Therefore, our dying to sin is not something we do, but something Christ has done, and something we obtain when we are united with Him.

A mistaken understanding is that once we are baptized somehow all our propensities to sin die, and we are no longer tempted to sin. But it doesn't happen that way.

So what does it mean "died to sin"?
In the first chapters of Romans Paul emphasizes that Christ died bearing our sins and that we are justified by faith in Christ, and this is a gift, not something we earned. The one who comes by faith to Christ is freed from the guilt and condemnation of their sins! Christ took our sins and died on the cross that we might be justified. No, this does not allow us to continue in sin, but in addressing the sanctified life Paul is telling us that we need to keep in mind the things he stressed in the previous verses.

When Christ died He took our "old sinful nature" upon Himself and died the death that was due that "old sinful nature". He died bearing every sin we have committed! When we are baptized we are baptized into HIS DEATH -- the death that was caused by our sin.

Thus we are to "reckon ourselves dead to sin", because Christ died with those sins. We are freed from them, and now FREE to live for Him, reconciled to Him.
Before we accepted Christ and came to Him for salvation, we were in bondage to sin, under the reign and rule of sin. It didn't matter if, by human standards, we were "good" people, we were still sinners in bondage to sin, under the condemnation of the law and headed for destruction.
But now, through our union with Christ in His death to our sin, we have been delivered! Simple faith enables the believer to reckon himself dead indeed unto sin, and alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.

It is as we behold the cross and Christ's death, that we are to reckon, or count ourselves dead to sin. It's not in looking at our achievements, but in looking to the cross. That's where our death to sin finds a reality.
It's as we rejoice in His resurrection, that we must believe the same power that raised Christ from the dead, can raise us from our spiritual death into newness of life in Him.