Balancing our Romans 5 Justification with holiness in the life Romans 6

 A Balance to Justification Romans 6

    Last week we discussed the area of grace in the operation of our salvation.  We saw in Romans 5:1-8 that salvation, we call it justification is by faith through the un-merited grace of the Eternal Trinity. Without peace with God we have no eternal life.  That peace with God and the person of Christ is there as we develop relationships with other Christians in the Church. This is what was so important. "That is to say, in the Christian community we do not relate to one another “immediate[ly],” we relate to one another mediately – through the “mediation of Christ.” For that reason, we love others not directly, but for Christ’s sake."  Article on Life Together by Bonhoeffer.

   We said in summary we are not seeking a rules-based Christianity necessarily,  but have grace to access to God through His life-changing Gospel of the good news, that Christ died for the ungodly, and we were all that before Christ came to us.  We did not come to Him.  He came to us .  We saw as well that through tribulation (suffering) we enter the kingdom of God.  This produces endurance and patience.  If Christ suffered, so will we.

   We finished with a quote from Evelyn Underhill that obedience gives us the life of freedom from sin---addictions of any kind, and hatred of others.  We are to love without condition even those who defy the law and love of God.. How were we reached for His kingdom?  We were not bullied, cajoled, forced to obey rules , but we saw the beautiful “a fellowship of creative heaven-led souls” with power to fulfill its vocation of transforming the world."  Underhill

  Today we continue to uncover some of the pitfalls that are thrown at us---even being a Christian( that the world tries to deceive us with) in the scriptures of Romans 6.  There is a vast treasure of wisdom here , so that we will try and seek the major points of the passage.

1.  6:1  Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound?  NO. ( Never , may it be- Greek) the Apostle emphatically declares in vs. 2. Hebrews 12:14 " Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord."

---In other words, I am going to be forgiven, so why not make it a whopper?

That is a misunderstanding of faith.  " ...a believer ..trusts in Christ, obedience to Christ...such trust ...and love inevitably result in purity and holiness and a life of unselfish service."  Erdman The Epistle to the Romans.

In fact a Christian who continues to live as an unbeliever may not be a believer at all but may be masquerading ( or at least not telling themselves the truth about their beliefs) , as did the Pharisees who fought with Jesus about everything.  If a Christian is constantly fighting with others, then that raises the question whether they are a Christian at all.  It may be a profession of faith with no possession of Christ by faith.

"Standing as it does in a world of death, an active will must constantly assert itself against the destructive and enslaving powers of lying, (and)....impurity, . It is engaged in battle everywhere: against the spirit of murder, against all hostility (including the venom of the taunting, quarreling tongue), against all the wrong and injustice people do to each other. That is, it fights in public as well as in private life against the very nature of hatred and death, and against all that opposes community. The call to freedom is a call to a battle without pause, a war without respite. Those who are called to it must be continually alert. They need not only the greatest willpower they themselves can muster, but also the aid of every other power yielded them by God, in order to meet the plight of the oppressed, to stand with the poor, and to fight against all evil in themselves and in the world around them.

This fight against evil must be waged more strongly within a community than against the world outside, but it must be waged even more relentlessly within each individual. In community, it is fought by the spirit of the church, which takes its foothold in each individual and fights the old Adam within him from the position of the new. In this way all softness, all flabby indulgence, is overcome by the burning power of love."  Ebherhard Arnold, " Coming KIngdom"

hmmmm.  Good quote but what is the bottom line of this passage?

2.  16-17 was not in the orig reading for today, but it should have been perhaps....

" 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" 

" 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."

" The basis of true religion is obedience"  Checking the John Calvin block.

From the heart we obey.

Form of doctrine is interesting.  Perhaps the early Christians had an ethical code of behavior....of course Jesus was the example and He is the embodiment of all of our teaching and doctrine.

Perhaps we should go back to our membership vows when we profess faith in Christ and join the community here of believers?

What does that look like?  ---Obedience to Christ, the vow to accept the government of the Church, its peace and purity and our responsibility to work for that?

I think more so an individual vow to believe in Christ and to vow to obey the code of ethical conduct as found in His admonitions to us?

----what are they : to love our enemies?  to practice what we preach?  To confess our sins to God, and to ask forgiveness of those we have offended ? To get out of the addiction cycle and breathe fresh air from God's garden?

The early Christians have always had a system of behavior that they tried to live up to.  Our current culture does not encourage it.  We all know that.  Where are we to get it from?  Certainly the Scriptures, our own personal devotional systems that bring us closer to God, and the wisdom of others who we respect us and whom we respect.

I find myself that singing some Scripture , such things as early Christian hymns that praise God and extol His Son are helpful.  What things help you?

Let's get back in the habit of practicing the vows we made to God and each other to love Him with all of our heart.  As Peter said in one of his letters, " whom not having seen you love." 1Pe 1:8

1Pe 1:8 Whom having not seen ye love. Jesus Christ. In whom, though now ye see [him] not, yet believing. Though not having seen Christ, they knew him by faith. Ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory. Because they believe upon him whom they have not seen they are filled with the unspeakable joy of a glorious hope.