Romans 6:1 to 7:6

READ: Rom.6:1 to 7:6

REFLECT:

Verses 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7. All of those verses repeat the same idea. Do you see that common thread? It is the fact that Paul's readers have, in some sense, died. They have died! How is that possible? It's possible because Paul is not talking about their physical deaths. The only physical death in Rom.6 is Jesus' death. But through that death, Paul's readers have died spiritually, by grace, through faith.

Why is that important to point out? Because the sobering reality of their dying with Christ is used by Paul to bring to them to the glorious reality that they have also been, and will be, raised up with Christ because of His resurrection. In the present, in the 'right now', this reality of the resurrection is called, verse 4, “newness of life”. Doesn't that sound good? 

Paul's whole goal in these verses is to get his readers to both recognize and embrace this “newness of life” that Jesus has made possible through His resurrection from the dead. Because of that connection, we can also refer to that life as “resurrection life”. 

But before you can hunger for resurrection life, you must be convinced that you need it. How can you recognize that need? By examining it. You see, if there is a “newness of life”, there must also be an oldness of life. It is the very thing that Paul declares has come to end if we have died with Jesus and through Jesus. 

Let's touch on 4 aspects of what God, through Paul, has revealed about this oldness of life. The first aspect has been made abundantly clear in our passage: oldness of life is about being slaves to sin.This is explicit in verses 6 and 7: We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. [7] For one who has died has been set free from sin.

If “newness of life” is about being set free, then how could Paul's readers, verse 1, “continue in sin”, or, verse 2, “still live in it”, as if they were still taking orders from sin as their master? That “body of sin” that Paul mentions in verse 6, that “old self” has been “brought to nothing”. But once, it was something - a slave; powerless under tyranny of sin. Look at how Paul describes this horrible bondage in chapter 3:

...as it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one; [11] no one understands; no one seeks for God. [12] All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.” (Romans 3:10-12)

Is that what you really want, that oldness?The next thing Paul has made clear to us about this oldness of life is being an inheritor of death. Look back into the previous chapter, at verse 12 of chapter 5. Paul writes:

Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned...

In the Roman world in which Paul wrote, many slaves could one day buy their freedom. But the slavery we suffer under this oldness of life, will not result in freedom. It will result in death, the end of your life in this world; being cut off from everyone and everything.

This past Friday, after 49 years of employment, my friend retired. He said goodbye to the workforce. In his final days at work, he received many gifts, well wishes and parties to honour his service. But when your service to sin comes to end, there won't be a commemorative plaque or a farewell party. There will only be death.

Is that what you really want, that oldness? 

Paul reveals something else, something astounding about this oldness. He reveals that oldness of life is about being an enemy of God. Look at chapter 5, verse 10...

For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.

It only makes sense that, in oldness of life we are slaves to sin, then we must be enemies of God. Why is that the case? Because sin cannot be defined apart from God. You see, sin is not simply selfishness or self-centredness, it is self-centredness in a God-centred universe. Sin is not simply doing wrong things. It is doing what is wrong by violating God's commands. Sin is not simply honouring evil. It is honouring anything other than the only One who is worthy of our honour. Of course we are enemies of God.

But think about that for a minute. Why would anyone ever want to be God's enemy? To fight against God is to fight against all that is right, true, good, fulfilling, lovely, satisfying, blessed, joy-giving, peace-promoting and life-affirming. What's more, to fight against God is guaranteed defeat, for who could ever defeat God? On top of that, what will happen to anyone who sets himself up against God? Yes, they will be defeated, but can you imagine the severity of that defeat? To pit yourself against a  corporate giant is one thing, but pitting yourself God is asking for decimation. 

Is that what you really want, that oldness? 

But there's one more aspect of this oldness that we could highlight. Paul touches on it back in chapter 3. Look back there and look at the final words of verse 22, right on into verse 23...

...For there is no distinction: [23] for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God...

Oldness of life is about being a forfeiter of heaven. In both verse 16 and verse 18 of Romans 5, Paul emphasizes that Adam's sin has brought condemnation for all people. And that condemnation is not only manifest in our physical deaths, but also in the fact that in the oldness of life, each of us will fail to reach, will come short of “the glory of God”. What is the “glory of God”. Well chapter 5, verse 2 speaks of “the hope of the glory of God” And in 8:18 Paul writes, For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.

The glory of God in this context is the glory of God's presence. God invites us to bask in His glory for all eternity. But when we walk in oldness of life, not only will we be cut off from this life, but we will also be cut off from that eternal life. No joy, no peace, no wholeness, no healing, no God. Why? Because even in eternity we will remain slaves of sin. And if we are slaves of sin, we are enemies of God. And if we are enemies of God, God will, for all eternity, put down and punish our rebellion.

Is that what you really want, that oldness?

RELATE:

If you accept that these things are true, then you will be crushed under the weight of your neediness. Listen to how the great English preacher Charles Spurgeon described our need for a sobering awareness of sin:

“Acknowledge the evil of sin; ask God to make you feel it. Do not treat it as a trifle, for it is not. To redeem the sinner from the effects of sin, Christ Himself had to die; and unless you are delivered from sin, you must die eternally. Therefore, do not play with sin. Do not confess it as though it were some venial fault that would not have been noticed unless God had been too severe; but labor to see sin as God sees it, as an offense against all that is good, a rebellion against all that is kind. See it to be treason, to be ingratitude, to be a low and base thing.” (Charles Spurgeon)

If you take Spurgeon's advice, you will feel the weight of your neediness, the weight of that oldness of life. But it's more than that. Imagine a child who is born into slavery, sold away from his family, and treated cruelly day after day. Imagine that one day, he accidentally gets left behind in town and from a distance sees a boy his own age who is enjoying the day with his family. This boy is playing and laughing. This boy is happy. This boy is loved. This is boy is well-fed and nurtured. This boy belongs.

In that instance, the slave will feel his neediness in a whole new way. Not only will he wince under his awful conditions, not only will he despair of what IS, but even more so in light of what could BE. 

But here's what makes this oldness even worse: our condition itself keeps us from seeing our condition itself. Oldness of life always deceives us. It tricks us into believing we are in the very best situation: masters of our own destinies; free to do as we please; strutting in our pride or even comforted by and content with our vices.

You see this oldness doesn’t keep us from seeing we are needy. It simply deceives us into believing there are many other things we need that are greater than “newness of life”: a new car, a new job, a new house, a new spouse, new friends, new toys, new experiences. But none of those things can change the fact we are slaves to sin, inheritors of death, enemies of God, and forfeiters of heaven.

This what we read in Hebrews 3: But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. (Hebrews 3:13) Isn’t that what Paul is doing here? Are we doing that with one another?

You see, God can open our eyes. He can pull back the veil. Remember who Paul is writing to in Romans 6. To Christians who have spiritually died with Christ and been spiritually raised with Christ. So is Paul saying that resurrection life is something we can lose? Or that it's something we slip in and out of? Absolutely not. But he is affirming that even if we have received that resurrection life through faith, we will struggle to walk in it.

Once we truly have those new glasses, we can never lose those glasses. But that doesn't mean they won’t slip down the bridge of our nose; that we won’t drift back to the old desires and old habits. That may have been what was happening here, as Romans 6 reveals. Or that may have been the accusation hurled at the gospel of grace. But notice that Paul doesn’t deny that his readers have resurrection life. He simply reminds them of it; points them back to it. Listen again:

What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? [2] By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? [How can we?!]

The goal of this devotion is simple: to awaken you, either for the first time or for the umpteenth time, to your desperate need for resurrection life. How would you define your needs then? Better financial position? Better home life? Better working conditions? Better prospects for your happiness or health or hope? None of those things can truly compare with, but all of those things are connected to, your need for resurrection life, or we might say, your need to walk in newness of life.

REST: 

Admit your neediness to God this morning. You don’t have to be afraid to feel needy out of a fear that your need will never be met. Jesus died and rose again to guarantee that this need could be met. So be appalled by this oldness of life. Long for resurrection life. Through Jesus, trust God for it.

Tan Tee Khoon