These notes are from a message preached at Bridgend Gospel Hall, New Cumnock by Dr J Stewart Gillespie.

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“shall we continue in sin that grace may abound?” (6:1)

This verse might seem to present a bizarre idea, a strange suggestion At times grace shields from our horizon the full consequences of our sin God remains a Holy and Righteous God – He has not changed It is possible however for this kind of idea to creep into our thinking Am I trading on Gods Grace? Would my behaviour change if: i.If I thought that my lie / deception would be dealt with the same way as Ananias Saphira's was? (Acts 5) 2 believers lie to the Holy Spirit, maybe a little ½ lie – they sold the land and gave 'most' of it for the work of the Lord and said that they had given 'all' of it. Just a slight exaggeration? Did it really matter? Ananias executed on the spot by the Spirit of God and his wife executed 3 hours later! God has not changed! ii.If I thought that my greed / materialism would be dealt with in the same way as Achan's was – Joshua chp 7. Jericho has just fallen, and explicit instructions have been given by God that the city and all in it are cursed, nothing to be taken for any private use. The gold, silver, brass and iron can be used for the sanctuary but everything else is to be left. Achan – just one man amongst millions who obey, takes 3 items: “...a goodly Babylonish garment, and two hundred shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold of fifty shekels weight...” (Jos 7:21). Whats the big deal? A few items which were going to be wasted anyway? The righteousness of God was the BIG deal. “...a goodly Babylonish garment” - “a trendy outfit from the high street.” Because of this disobedience of one man the entire army of Israel is defeated at Ai and Achan and his sons and daughters and animals are stoned and burned! iii.If I thought that my grumbling would be dealt with the same way as Miriam's was (Num 12). Miriam and others had an issue with Moses leadership and wanted to push him out and move in (Num12:2). They take a round about approach to manoeuvring Moses out and attack him from the side – his wife (12:1) – not really the issue! Be careful how we approach a ministry that challenges us! iv.If I thought that discord with my brethren would be made as public as that of Euodias and Syntyche's was (Phil 4) – Paul wrote of it in a letter, sent it to the church, copied it around the world and published it for 2000 years! Way to go! If every email I wrote were copied to every recipient in outlook express, if every text message was copied to every number in my phone book, if every telephone conversation were recorded and made public, would I say / write or text the things I do? If it would change my behaviour to anticipate my sin being dealt with in these ways then I am trading on Divine Grace! I am banking on Gods Grace to allow me to continue in sin! 4 reasons why we don't continue in sin: 1.because I'm dead to Sin (6:1-8) 2.because I'm alive to God (6:8-11) 3.because I must serve God (6:11-21) 4.because sin remains sin (6:21-23) Dead to Sin This may seem a strange idea, awkward thought, after all I am alive, am I not? Positional truth – true because of my position in Christ, not because I hold the Bible at a strange angle! Positional truth is not the opposite of real truth either (as was once suggested by a preacher at a conference)! Positional truth is very real but not always fully realised! Positional truth is true of me because it is true of Christ and I am in Christ, I have a relationship with Him! Compare the benefits which the people of God had in the days of Samuel and David: they were in the land, with an inheritance, towns and homes to dwell in, but had they fought for them? Their forefathers had won them in the days of Joshua and because of their relationship with their forefathers what had previously been fought and won by another was now theirs! This is no new idea for us in Romans, should already be familiar with it, cf. Roms chp 3 +4 – justification by faith. I have been declared righteous! Am I righteous? God has said you are! How can I be righteous? Because of my position in Christ (3:26) Dead to sin doesn't mean unresponsive to sin (6:12-13) I have moved out of the realm / sphere of sin I have left the boundary within which king sin reigns (5:21) Sin reigns to death and no further! There is no sinning in heaven and there is no sinning in hell either! i.Adam as created was able to sin ii.After the fall man was unable not to sin iii.After the new birth man is able not to sin iv.In eternity man is unable to sin Does this idea of death to sin seem a strange truth? That Christianity begins with an end. This is the truth emphasised in the opening 8 verses of Romans chapter 6: i.death (v2) ii.baptism + death (v3) iii.burial + baptism + death (v4) iv.planted (v5) Does it all seem a bit odd – a bit strange? Actually its very familiar. It is a very familiar truth but viewed from an unusual angle – from the back This is familiar truth The truth of being dead to sin is the other side of being alive in Christ and alive to God! This is one truth, connected together for example in v5 “planted” - the seed sown in the autumn, dead and lifeless and unexciting shoots up in the spring. Burial and growth are 2 sides of the one truth! Planting is death with a prospect! Alive in Christ / Alive to God: 3 tremendous aspects: 1.Present Experience (v4) 2.Future Expectation (v5) 3.Eternal Enjoyment (v8) We notice the pattern that future hope is founded on present help This was the pattern noted previously in Rom 5:1-5 Future expectation was founded on present experience The same is true of life in Christ: future expectation is founded in present experience This is no subtlety of exposition This is no fine point of interpretation This is no needless digression This is why, as believers we have at times such a hard time! “For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven:” (2Co 5:1-2) “For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day.” (2Co 4:16) It's not a pleasant thing to perish! The 2 truths go hand in hand: death to the old life and new life in Christ Our strength is taken that we might rest in His (Jer 9:23) The day will soon come when time and sense and wealth and strength have been long gone and all that abides is Him! In that day we will be grateful for all that the Lord stripped from us of earth prematurely that we might be drawn more closer to Him! What does it mean to be: “Alive to God” (6:10,12) “Alive through Jesus Christ” (6:11) 2 Kings 4: The chapter concerns a child of promise (4:16), just like Isaac (Gen18) and just like us (Gal4:28) This child of promise experiences a death, whilst busy in the field (4:18) and whilst reaping for his father Consider the chapter practically: what do we do when we hit a period of barrenness in our service for Christ? 1.Recycle: The approach of preachers gone stale. Some hark back to a day when things were fresher, when Christ was closer and draw from better and brighter days! I used to wonder what motivated so many dispensational preachers to affirm with such confidence that this was “the day of small things” (Zech4:10), until I realised that there were really speaking personally of their own spiritual experience. They could look back on better days when Christ was real and fresh to them! 2.Resign:

There was a day when faith was bright, Before the sun had reached its height (v20) But now beneath a darkening evening sky, With head so heavy and about to die (v19) I drop the scythe, the field I leave behind (v18) For from my Father's service I resign A better comfort I have found upon my bed (v21) Alas this is the place but for the dead!

3.Raised again / restored: Refreshed with the life of Christ again The Shunammite comes to Carmel (fruitfulness) She heads to Elisha, personally, only he will do, not his servant and not his staff, only Elisha personally. She would make it a priority to lay hold of Elisha (4:27,30)! The one who was the source of life would be the sustainer of life She would follow the pattern and path of Job and Jacob: “Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him: but I will maintain mine own ways before him.” (Job 13:15) “And he said, Let me go, for the day breaketh. And he said, I will not let thee go, except thou bless me.” (Gen 32:26) A priority to pursue and lay hold of Him! Determination is needed to lay hold of Divine blessing (4:27,30) Restoration and revival (4:34) i.mouth to mouth ii.eyes to eyes iii.hands to hands The new life in Christ: i.mouth to mouth (Col 3:8) ii.eyes to eyes (Col 3:12-14) iii.hands to hands (Col3:9) Practically what is the new life in Christ? It is to: i.see with His eyes ii.speak with His lips iii.work with His hands Then I am living the life of Christ This is not works righteousness by the back door! This can only be achieved in the power of His Spirit! i.see with His eyes: Looking at one another not through the eyes of a critic but rather through the eyes of Christ (Col 3:12-14)! ii.speak with His lips (Col 3:8-9) iii.work with His hands (Col 3:9) When man sinned and left the service of God in the garden of Eden these 3 aspects of mans being were were consecrated to sin (Gen3:6): i.“woman saw” / “pleasant to eyes” - eyes ii.“she took” - hands iii.“did eat” - mouth The same pattern re-echoes in 1 Sam 14:27 in Jonathan as he partakes of the forbidden honey, hands eyes and mouth going in the wrong direction. In the fall Satan captured man's life with his: i.Action – hand ii.Appetite – month iii.Attention – eye In salvation Christ restores man's life with its: i.Action – hand ii.Appetite – mouth iii.Attention - eye One part of the anatomy I noted was missing in 2 Kings 4 – what about the feet? Why no mention of the feet? Very important part of the body for service – the walk! How do you take a dog a walk? Tie a rope around its feet and drag it? A collar and a lead – if you control the head the rest of the body follows on after! If he has my hands, my eyes and my mouth the rest will follow on after! I will live out the life of Christ! These notes are from a message preached at Bridgend Gospel Hall, New Cumnock by Dr J Stewart Gillespie. https://graceinchrist.org/romans

Taken from a Message Preached on Romans Chapter 6 Verse 2 by Dr J Stewart Gillespie

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It is possible to miss the simple message of Romans 6, to get away from the simplicity and clarity of it!

The Christian life begins with a conversion – an end to the old and a beginning of the new!

There would hardly be a more clear cut, a more dramatic way of putting it: black and white, right and wrong, life and death!

This is an absolute!

Salvation isn't doing a course, saying a prayer or filling in a form.

Salvation is a life changing transaction between me and God, which I enter into by faith:

F – Forsaking

A – All

I

T – Trust

H – Him

As I look back at that experience and as others look on – what should they see?

What can they see?:

1. Can't see faith – that's a spiritual thing

2. Can't see my thoughts

3. Can't see my turmoil

4. Can't see my feelings

5. Can't see the peace in my soul

But what they ought to be able to see is a change in my life!

Important to get the order right:

1. Salvation – by grace and through faith (Acts 16:31,John 3:16), because of that trust in Christ

2. Change – by the Spirit

3. 
   

Important to get the order right, or we can run into bother!

It's not me changing my life that forces God to save me but rather it is receiving Gods son as Saviour that changes me!

There ought to be a real before and after transition!

This before and after Grace contrast comes out in the chapters we have before us:

Romans 5 tells me that by relationship with Christ I am linked to His life

This comes out in the content of the text but also in the pattern or structure:

Rom 5:15 “free gift... grace of God...the gift by grace” - 3 times in the verse we have either the word for “grace” or the cognate word “gift”

Rom 5:16 “but the free gift is of many offences unto justification.” - verse 16 takes us on from the free gift to imputed “righteousness”

Rom 5:17 “they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one” verse 17 takes us through “grace” to “righteousness” and then further on to “life”

Rom 5:18 “justification of life.” - emphasises “life” again

Rom 5:19 “shall many be made righteous.” - back to “righteousness”

Rom 5:20 “grace”

Rom 5:21 “grace...righteousness...life by Jesus Christ our Lord.” - all 3 themes in the concluding verse

Notice the pattern then:

A – Grace (v15)

B – Righteousness (v16)

C – Life (v17)

C – Life (v18)

B – Righteousness (v19)

A – Grace (v20)

A chiasmatic structure / symmetry to the later half of chapter 5. Why?

1. As an aid memoir? In days of low literacy and expensive parchments by the time the local church had finished reading and preaching chapter 5 the saints would have memorised it? Do we have low expectations of the Lords people as preachers? Do we have passive expectations of the ministry of Gods Word? Do we come expecting to allow the ministry to wash over us? The ministry meeting isn't a sauna – allow the warm comforting mist of ministry to waft over us and clear out our blocked pours whilst we slumber and relax! The ministry meeting is a school room where we need to focus down on the word of God, coming with an exercise to glean from the Lords word.

2. As part of the structure of the passage it focuses our attention on the key thought: “life” at the centre!

   In chapter 5 I am linked by relationship to Christ with His life!

Romans 6 begins by telling me that by relationship with Christ I am linked with His death!

Death is mentioned in every verse from 6:2 to 6:11.

Last week we noted that Romans 6 presents 4 reasons for not continuing in sin:

4 reasons why we don't continue in sin:

1. because I'm dead to Sin (6:1-7)

2. because I'm alive to God (6:8-11)

3. because I must serve God (6:12-20)

4. because sin remains sin (6:21-22)

1. because I'm dead to Sin (6:2-8)

In this section the Spirit doesn't so much use symmetry as repetition and a building up of an idea by piling one linked word to the next:

v2 – Death

v3 – Baptism and death

v4 – Burial, Baptism and Death

v5 – Planted – an extension of the idea of burial – this is burial with a future

Why say “planted” - why not say “buried” in v4?

Because “planted” is “buried” with a future”

If you dig up dandelions with all of their seeds, how do you dispose of them?

You don't take a handful of dandelion seeds and bury them? Why not? If you do you know they will have a future! That kind of burial is a planting!

The 2 ideas of spiritual death and resurrection in verse 4 and physical death and resurrection in verse 5 merge together here.

v6 – Body - “old man”, execution - “crucified” and destruction - “destroyed”

It becomes hard to miss the thought that I am “dead to sin”

vs2-3 – we are dead to sin

What does it mean to be “dead to sin”?

Notice “dead” is an aorist tense – point tense and usually past, a completed action

What does that mean?

Does this mean that we have lost the desire to sin?

Some point out that a dead body is an unresponsive thing, having the lost the ability to respond to light, touch, hearing and pain.

Having died to sin does that render us unresponsive, to sin, lacking any desire to sin?

This is inconsistent with 6:11-14 – for if being dead to sin renders us unresponsive and with no desire to sin and lacking the capacity to sin then Paul would hardly have to exhort us not to allow sin to reign in our bodies (6:12), not to obey sin (6:12) nor to give our bodies over to the service of sin (6:13)!

This interpretation is also inconsistent with Col 3:5 ff and Galatians 5:16ff.

We need to be wary of interpreting the scriptures with medical text books rather than using the scriptures to interpret themselves!

To understand 6:2 I think we need to look back at 5:21.

Before my conversion 'sin was King' (5:21)

I lived under the domain, the authority, the rule, the tyranny of King Sin (5:21)

Now I am saved I live in another Kingdom (5:21) the Kingdom of Grace under Jesus Christ our Lord (5:21).

I have at some point left the one Kingdom and come into the other.

“Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son:” (Col 1:13)

Every Kingdom has its boundary, its border to which the rule of the sovereign extends and thus no further:

Illust: Coming into Scotland from England, M74 sign “Scotland Failte ”

The boundary marker for the Kingdom of sin isn't a sign on the road or a line on the map, it is a boundary marker appropriate to sin.

Sin cannot cross the boundary marker of death!

That link between sin and death cannot be broken:

The Kingdom of Sin has a boundary: “as sin hath reigned unto death.” (5:21)

After death sin has no more claim upon me!

Does this mean there is no sinning in hell?

Sin is a falling short of Gods standard it is the rejection of or rebellion against the self revelation of God, but in hell, apart from the experience of Gods eternal judgement there is no revelation of God to reject, revile or rebel against:

• God is Light – and sin is described as a rebellion against and a rejection of that light (John 3:19), but eternal judgement is “outer darkness” it is the “blackness of darkness forever” - Jude 1:13.

• God is Love – and sin is a rejection of or a cutting off of the love of God into our life and experience (1John4:7,8) but eternal judgement is a “fearful looking forward to...” (Heb10:27) – a place dominated by fear because there is no love there (1 John4:18).

• God is Life – man's greatest outrage against God was to kill the Prince of Life (Acts 3:15) - but eternal judgement is the “second death” (Rev20:14)

• God is the source of Hope – but eternal judgement has no hope, it is eternal! (Heb6:2)

• God is Peace – but eternal judgement knows no peace - “And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name.” (Rev 14:11)

• Christ is Saviour – John 16:9 compare Heb 10:26 – in eternal judgement there is no opportunity to reject Christ! There remaineth no more forgiveness of sins.

There is no revelation of God in hell to sin against!

At some point I came to the boundary of that kingdom of sin and crossed over into the Kingdom of Grace.

Being “dead to sin” represents a change of address from the Kingdom of Sin to the Kingdom of Grace

That link between sin and death:

It is an inevitable link – sin is a rebellion against God and a rejection of God, “in Him is life” therefore sin separated from the source of life and brings death

It is an inviolable link – that is a link that cannot be broken – because God has also decreed this link:

“But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.” (Gen 2:17)

“Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul that sinneth, it shall die.” (Eze 18:4)

“For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Rom 6:23)

There is an exit from sin but that exit is labelled 'death'

The only way out of the Kingdom of Sin is by way of Death.

On the other side of that door marked death the door is labelled either deliverance or damnation!

This is an interesting idea that death marks the boundary for the Kingdom of Sin but do you have any clear cut evidence of it?

Rom 6:7 “For he that is dead is freed from sin.”

That word “freed” is very interesting because it is the word “δικαιόω” - justified!

How can death justify us from sin?

Does it not take the work of Christ to justify us from sin and make us right with God and bring us into a living relationship with God? (5:11-21)

Of course it does and I suspect that is why the word has been translated “freed” in this verse to avoid confusion!

This is “justify” in a different sense.

This justify does not have the positive thought of being declared righteous by a God satisfied with the work of Christ and being brought into a living relationship with God but this is the “justified” of a criminal, found guilty of a crime who takes his punishment and serves the sentence meted out.

He has done the crime and now he does the time.

Should he complete his punishment then the demands of righteousness are satisfied.

Sin demands death, once death has been reached sins demands have ended!

God doesn't defraud sin, He doesn't say 'I know that sin demands death but I'm going to bend the rules here.' Rather He pays the price for that righteous demand in the death of His Son!

We are therefore declared to have satisfied or fulfilled the Divine decree concerning sin:

“But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.” (Gen 2:17)

“Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul that sinneth, it shall die.” (Eze 18:4)

“For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Rom 6:23)

So are you saying then that once we die then the demands of sin are satisfied and because we have suffered death for our sin we are then free from guilt?

Are saying that every sinner therefore who dies is justified and goes to heaven?

Who said anything about heaven?

The punishment for and the consequence of sin is death and without a Saviour death is simply not an event is an eternal state.

Hence eternal damnation in the lake of fire is referred to as the “second death” (Rev2:11; 20:6; 20:14; 21:8) for the just demands of sin against an eternal being is eternal death and separation.

But were there not in scripture those who have left the domain of sin without dieing?

1. Enoch (Gen 5:24; Heb11:5)

2. Elijah (2 Kings 2:11)

3. The saints of 1 Thess 4 and 1 Co 15:51

How is this possible?

The work of Christ involves not only Christ bearing my sin (Isa 53; 1 Peter 3:18) but also dieing my death and entering into that deep experience of separation from God: "My God, My God why hast thou forskaen me?" and experiencing that thick darkness:

“But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man.” (Heb 2:9)

Albert Leckie: “Here it is dead to sin as governing my life”

Martyn Lloyd Jones: “Christ died to the realm and to the rule and to the reign of sin...we are dead to sin in the sense that we are no longer under its rule, being out of the territory and the jurisdiction of sin”

Free from the Domain of sin (5:21) from the Demands of sin and from the Domination of sin (6:9-12)!

This identification this union with Christ not only in His Life but also in His death allows me to move out of the Kingdom of Sin and to move on from the Kingdom of Sin, it sets me free from the Domain, the Demands and the Domination of sin.

Union with the death of Christ frees me from the POWER and PLACE of sin and one day from the PRESENCE of sin.

As far back as Job this truth appears:

“If a man die, shall he live again? all the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my change come.” (Job 14:14)

Job saw death not simply as an end or termination but as a transition, not just a barrier but a boundary to something else, a transformation, a change!

Notice in this section we have a:

1. Burial

2. Baptism

3. Body (v6) – we have an old man hanging like a corpse on a cross

One of the reasons people don't come to Christ: we have too much invested in the Old Man

We make excuses that what the old man did was ok:

• well I had to do it

• my hands were tied

• I was advised to do it

• under the circumstances...

• I couldn't have coped any other way...

• It was different in those days...

• The pressures were such that...

The Christian is a person who has faced the facts that what he or she has done is wrong, sinful, offensive to God and deserving of eternal condemnation in hell.

These were not little blips, imperfections, difficulties – they were sins, I was wrong and I confess them, I see my need of cleansing and forgiveness and I understand that Christ dies for me and my sin!

To that cross of Christ my “old man” - my pre-conversion life is crucified!

It is a painful, pitiful, shameful and embarrassing thing to watch the crucifixion of the “old man” (6:6) and so often I shy away from it.

What is the “old man”? (6:6)

What is the difference between the “old man” and the “flesh”

1. The “old man” dies at conversion (Rom 6:6), ends, on a cross, dead and crucified at conversion. The old man is the pre-conversion life lived out under the power of the flesh

2. The flesh continues even after conversion (Col 3:5ff; Gal 5:16ff)

3. After conversion we live according to the Spirit and live as a “new man” (2 Co5:17; Eph4:24; Col3:9,10; Rom8:1ff)
   

I have been to the cross,

I have seen dyeing there,

Thy Son tortured and bleeding for me,

And as I moved to depart,

My direction had changed,

I could see myself hanging with thee.

Having left all I was,

At Calvary's tree,

I stand empty and barren and bare,

A new life I must live,

For the old life has gone,

By His life there is a new me.

To serve that 'old man'

Hanging dead on the tree

Would be to still live in the past

But to serve a risen Lord,

Who sits high above all

Gives life meaning and purpose that lasts

To live still in sin

Just cannot be done

Now that sin is condemned in the flesh

For if sin was once wrong

Before Calvary's tree

How much more

Since it cost God His Son?

Not just an offence

That is bitter to taste

Reaping death, disaster and loss

But now it is clear,

It was the reason that Christ

Shed His blood,

Gave His life on the Cross.

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Taken from a message preached on Romans Chapter 6 Verse 1 by Dr J Stewart Gillespie

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In Romans Chapter 5 we saw A Grace that: 1.G – Glory, the ultimate purpose of all Gods dealings in Grace. The Glory of God's Grace, is the reason (5:6,12) that is the reason for Gods permissive will in allowing Adams sin and Eden's fall (Eph1:5-6; 1:10-12) 2.R – Rejoices (5:3-5) in all of life's problems, in tribulations 3.A – Ability of Grace, able to save despite all of our inability. Grace removes (5:6) all obstacles to salvation – no one is lost because they lacked the ability, intelligence, know how or strength to be saved 4.C – Crowned, Grace is crowned King, Grace reigns (5:21) 5.E – Extends to wherever sign has been, Grace reaches (5:18,20) everywhere that sin has reached Not only that but a Grace sufficient for: 1.Life's Problems (5:1-5) 2.Salvations Plan (5:6-11) 3.Man's Plight (5:12-21) No matter what my problems there is grace sufficient for it? Correct! No matter how deep the hole Gods grace can reach me? Correct! No matter how big the mess Gods Grace can sort it out? Correct! Well that's just fine because I love causing problems, making a mess, picking fights, being the awkward customer, I thrive on conflict and contention and I quite enjoy my sin! So I can continue dabbling in my sin with the reassurance that the Lord can sort it all out! “What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?” (Rom6:1) Surely no one can seriously think like that? Gods Grace is not license to sin, because Gods Grace is not the opposite of righteousness. God does not cease to be righteous because He is Gracious His Grace is not His means of ignoring or neglecting His Righteousness but rather His Grace is His means of maintaining His Righteous integrity whilst being able to save the sinner: Rom 3:22, 26. Am I trading on Gods Grace? Would my behaviour change if: i.If I thought that my lie / deception would be dealt with the same way as Ananias Saphira's was? Acts 5 – 2 believers lie to the Holy Spirit, maybe a little ½ lie – they sold the land and gave 'most' of it for the work of the Lord and said that they had given 'all' of it. Just a slight exaggeration? Did it really matter? Ananias executed on the spot by the Spirit of God and his wife executed 3 hours later! God has not changed! ii.If I thought that my greed would be dealt with in the same way as Achan's was – Joshua chp 7. Jericho has just fallen, and explicit instructions have been given by God that the city and all in it are cursed, nothing to be taken for any private use. The gold, silver, brass and iron can be used for the sanctuary but everything else is to be left. Achan – just one man amongst millions who obey, takes 3 items: “...a goodly Babylonish garment, and two hundred shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold of fifty shekels weight...” (Jos 7:21). Whats the big deal? A few items which were going to be wasted anyway? The righteousness of God was the BIG deal. “...a goodly Babylonish garment” - “a trendy outfit from the high street.” Because of this disobedience of one man the entire army of Israel is defeated at Ai and Achan and his sons and daughters and animals are stoned and burned! iii.If I thought that my grumbling would be dealt with the same way as Miriam's was (Num 12). Miriam and others had an issue with Moses leadership and wanted to push him out and move in (Num12:2). They take a round about approach to manoeuvring Moses out and attack him from the side – his wife (12:1) – not really the issue! Be careful how we approach a ministry that challenges us! Miriam's grumbling against a faithful servant of the Lord was summarily dealt with! iv.If I thought that discord with my brethren would be made as public as that of Euodias and Syntyche's was (Phil 4) – Paul wrote of it in a letter, sent it to the church, copied it around the world and published it for 2000 years! Way to go! Took about relationship counselling apostle style! Name and shame – not invented by the newspapers in the 20th century! If it would change my behaviour to anticipate my sin being dealt with in these ways then I am trading on Divine Grace! I am banking on Gods Grace to allow me to continue in sin! 4 reasons why we don't continue in sin: 1.because I'm dead to Sin (6:1-7) 2.because I'm alive to God (6:8-11) 3.because I must serve God (6:12-20) 4.because sin remains sin (6:21-22) 1)because I'm dead to Sin (6:2-8) vs2-3 – we are dead to sin What does it mean to be “dead to sin”? Notice “dead” is an aorist tense – point tense and usually past, a completed action What does that mean? i.We have lost the desire to sin? Some point out that a dead body is an unresponsive thing, having the lost the ability to respond to light, touch, hearing and pain. Illust: check a person is dead: shine a light in pupils – no response, painful stimuli – no response. Having died to sin does that render us unresponsive, to sin, lacking any desire to sin? This inconsistent with 6:11-14 – for if being dead to sin renders us unresponsive and with no desire to sin and lacking the capacity to sin then Paul would hardly have to exhort us not to allow sin to reign in our bodies (6:12), not to obey sin (6:12) nor to give our bodies over to the service of sin (6:13)! This interpretation is also inconsistent with Col 3 and Galatians 5. We need to be wary of interpreting the scriptures with medical text books rather than using the scriptures to interpret themselves! ii.A broken relationship with sin (Montgomery Boice). Boice points out the same phrase is used of Christ in (6:10) where Christ discharged His responsibilities to sin, dealt with it and finished with sin at Calvary, His relationship with sin is now finished! This is true but what does this mean to me practically? To understand 6:2 I think we need to look back at 5:21. Before my conversion 'sin was King' (5:21) I lived under the domain, the authority, the rule, the tyranny of King Sin (5:21) Now I am saved I live in another Kingdom (5:21) the Kingdom of Grace under Jesus Christ our Lord (5:21). I have at some point left the one Kingdom and come into the other. This is what Colossians 1:3 says: “Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son:” (Col 1:13) Every Kingdom has its boundary, its border to which the rule of the sovereign extends and thus no further: Coming into Scotland from England, M74 sign “Scotland Failte ” The boundary marker for the Kingdom of sin isn't a sign on the road or a line on the map, it is a boundary marker appropriate to sin. Sin cannot cross the boundary marker of death! That link between sin and death cannot be broken: The Kingdom of Sin has a boundary: “as sin hath reigned unto death.” (5:21) After death sin has no more claim upon me! Does this mean there is no sinning in hell? Sin is a falling short of Gods standard it is the rejection of or rebellion against the self revelation of God, but in hell, apart from the experience of Gods eternal judgement there is no revelation of God to reject, revile or rebel against: God is Light – and sin is described as a rebellion against and a rejection of that light (John 3:19), but eternal judgement is “outer darkness” it is the “blackness of darkness forever” God is Love – and sin is a rejection of or a cutting off of the love of God into our life and experience (1John4:7,8) but eternal judgement is a “fearful looking forward to...” (Heb10:27) – a place dominated by fear because there is no love there (1 John4:18). God is Life – man's greatest outrage against God was to kill the Prince of Life (Acts 3:15) - but eternal judgement is the “second death” (Rev20:14) God is the source of Hope – but eternal judgement has no hope, it is eternal! (Heb6:2) God is Peace – but eternal judgement knows no peace - “And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name.” (Rev 14:11) There is no revelation of God in hell to sin against! At some point I came to the boundary of that kingdom of sin and crossed over into the Kingdom of Grace. Being “dead to sin” represents a change of address from the Kingdom of Sin to the Kingdom of Grace That link between sin and death: 1.It is an inevitable link – sin is a rebellion against God and a rejection of God, “in Him is life” therefore sin separated from the source of life and brings death 2.It is an inviolable link – that is a link that cannot be broken – because God has also decreed this link: “But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.” (Gen 2:17) “Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul that sinneth, it shall die.” (Eze 18:4) “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Rom 6:23) There is an exit from sin but that exit is labelled 'death' The only way out of the Kingdom of Sin is by way of Death. On the other side of that door marked death the door is labelled either deliverance or damnation! This is an interesting idea that death marks the boundary for the Kingdom of Sin but do you have any clear cut evidence of it? Rom 6:7 “For he that is dead is freed from sin.” That word “freed” is very interesting because it is the word “δικαιόω” - justified! How can death justify us from sin? Does it not take the work of Christ to justify us from sin and make us right with God and bring us into a living relationship with God? (5:11-21) Of course it does and I suspect that is why the word has been translated “freed” in this verse to avoid confusion! This is “justify” in a different sense. This justify does not have the positive thought of being declared righteous by a God satisfied with the work of Christ and being brought into a living relationship with God but this is the “justified” of a criminal, found guilty of a crime who takes his punishment and serves the sentence meted out. He has done the crime and now he does the time. Should he complete his punishment then the demands of righteousness are satisfied. Sin demands death, once death has been reached sins demands have ended! God doesn't defraud sin, He doesn't say 'I know that sin demands death but I'm going to bend the rules here.' Rather He pays the price for that rioghteous demand in the death of His Son! We are therefore declared to have satisfied or fulfilled the Divine decree concerning sin: “But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.” (Gen 2:17) “Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul that sinneth, it shall die.” (Eze 18:4) “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Rom 6:23) So are you saying then that once we die then the demands of sin are satisfied and because we have suffered death for our sin we are then free from guilt? Are saying that every sinner therefore who dies is justified and goes to heaven? Who said anything about heaven? The punishment for and the consequence of sin is death and without a Saviour death is simply not an event is an eternal state. Hence eternal damnation in the lake of fire is referred to as the “second death” (Rev2:11; 20:6; 20:14; 21:8) for the just demands of sin against an eternal being is eternal death and separation. But were there not in scripture those who have left the domain of sin without dieing? 1.Enoch (Gen 5:24; Heb11:5) 2.Elijah (2 Kings 2:11) 3.The saints of 1 Thess 4 and 1 Co 15:51 How is this possible? The work of Christ involves not only Christ bearing my sin but also dieing my death: “But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man.” (Heb 2:9) Albert Leckie: “Here it is dead to sin as governing my life” Martyn Lloyd Jones: “Christ died to the realm and to the rule and to the reign of sin...we are dead to sin in the sense that we are no longer under its rule, being out of the territory and the jurisdiction of sin” Free from the Domain of sin (5:21) from the Demands of sin and from the Domination of sin (6:9-12)! This identification this union with Christ not only in His Life but also in His death allows me to move out of the Kingdom of Sin and to move on from the Kingdom of Sin, it sets me free from the Domain, the Demands and the Domination of sin. Union with the death of Christ frees me from the POWER and PLACE of sin and one day from the PRESENCE of sin. https://graceinchrist.org/romans

So far in our studies we have considered:

1. Provision for the child in Grace (Romans 5)

2. Place of the child in Grace (Matthew 18)

3. Pictures of the child in Grace (Roms 5:12; 2 Sam 12:20-25; 1Kings 17:18ff; 2Kings 4; Mk5)

Pictures of Resurrection

Perhaps today in our own land one of the most prominent and certainly one of the most promoted anti-Christian philosophies would be that of evolution

The athiest / agnostic and evolutionist would generally cite that their strongest evidence lies in the fact the events of the past have left their echo in the rocks of the present – they look for fossils: 'the present is the key to the past.'

We as Christians know a God who knows not only the past but also the future and we as Christians would often cite as our strongest evidence the very converse of the evolutionist, that lieing within the past are echoes of the future: in other words the past contained and continues to contain within it the key to the future!

“Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me, Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure:” (Isa 46:8-10)

“I have spoken it, I will also bring it to pass; I have purposed it, I will also do it.” (Isa 46:11)

The Christian therefore looks not for fossils of the past in the present but the believer, fully appreciating the greatness and sovereignty of his God seeks for shadows of the future in the past! Only God can do that!

I want to do something that may seem strange therefore to the mind of the unbeliever, the educated but unenlightened mind, the philosopher of the world I want to look for hope in Christ in the future by looking at Gods hand working in the past!

I am seeking Gods promises for the future by looking for Gods patterns in the past.

The believer understands why I am doing this!

As I look back for hope of a future resurrection for the child, I find that out of 8 specific individuals raised again from the dead in scripture other than Christ there are 3 children who are specified as having being raised again from the dead in the past. These 3 are very interesting:

1. Elijah and the widow of Zarephath's son (1 Kings 17)

2. Elisha and the son of the Shunammite woman (2 Kings 4)

3. Jarius Daughter (Mark chp 5)

In these 3 resurrections of children in the scriptures we have:

1. The resurrection of the son of the gentile woman (1 Kings 17) – in case we missed this the Lord emphasised this very point on the occasion of the commencement of His public ministry in the synagogue in Nazareth in Luke 4:26.

2. The resurrection of the daughter of a Jewish man – again hard to miss this; Jarius the scriptures highlight for us was the “ruler of the synagogue” - of what relevance did that have to the resurrection of his daughter or to the greatness of the need of the family?

3. The resurrection of a son “according to promise” (2 Kings 4:16) a condition identical to that of Isaac and the New Testament believer: “Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise.” (Ga 4:28)

We have therefore pictures of the resurrection of:

1. Children of the gentile nations

2. Children of the Jewish nation

3. Children of believers

In all 3 pictures, for some reason, the state of the dead child is linked with that of sleep:

1. Elijah before he will raise the dead boy of 1 Kings 17: “And he said unto her, Give me thy son. And he took him out of her bosom, and carried him up into a loft, where he abode, and laid him upon his own bed.” (1Ki 17:19)

2. Elisha before he will raise the dead son of the Shunammite in 2 Kings 4 will raise the child under similar circumstances: “And when Elisha was come into the house, behold, the child was dead, and laid upon his bed.” (2Ki 4:32)

3. Most explicitly of all we have the startling and perhaps slightly puzzling statement of the Lord Jesus concerning Jarius daughter: “And all wept, and bewailed her: but he said, Weep not; she is not dead, but sleepeth.” (Lu 8:52 AV)

Perhaps you say what could be more natural than for the Lord to raise up a dead person from their bed? Is that after all not where dead people are often to be found lieing on a bed?

Well interestingly if you you look at the other 5 specified resurrections of the Bible you find:

4. The man of 2 Kings 13:21 was raised from a sepulchre

5. The widow of Nain's son, a “young man” was raised from his coffin

6. Lazarus of John 11 was raised from the tomb

7. Dorcas, a believer in Acts 9:39, raised from her place in the “upper chamber” - often used as a guest room

8. Eutychus of Acts 20:9 the young man who fell asleep whilst Paul was preaching, mind you I have to reluctantly confess that the scriptures do seem to blame the preacher for the audience falling asleep: “as Paul was long preaching” - if the audience fall asleep the preacher needs to waken up. Eutychus may well have been in need of his bed but he wasn't raised up from his bed either but from the ground where he landed having fallen from his seat in the open window!

Add to this those who are raised en mass when the Saviour died, unspecified individuals (Matt 27:52) who were raised from the graves!

So as it turns out the children are the only ones to be raised from their beds in a state of sleep!

Although as we are aware, interestingly this picture of sleep becomes a consistent picture of the condition of the dead in Christ (John 11; 1 Thess 4), but ever before the believer in Christ died to sleep with the promise of a future awakening, the child had been for many generations entered already into the enjoyment of that very experience!

Elijah and the Widow of Zarephath: A Picture of Rapture:

A child dies, but more than this, a child is committed into the care of Elijah (17:19)

Carried by Elijah out of the bosom of his mother to abide where he abides, to rest where he rests (cf. Luke 16:22)

1. “he took him” (v19)

“give me thy son” (v19)

Many times the Lord asks us to give to Him that which we least desire to part with, that we might trust Him for that which means most to us.

This is the essence of faith.

This was the essence of Abraham's faith in Genesis 22: “take thy son thine only Isaac.”

The God who requires from me that which I least desire to part with is the God who “spared not His own Son but delivered Him up for us all.”

For the purposes of the narrative it would have been enough to record “he took him” but the Spirit adds “out of her bosom.” From a mothers heart.

For some time, up until the resurrection of her son that was all the mother knew – the pain and sorrow of an empty heart.

Here is our problem – our sorrow lies in time and our hope lies in eternity.

As Elijah departed with the child and the door closed behind them, this widow woman was unable to see what was transpiring above, in the upper room, she only knew of the sorrow which was her portion below, the sorrow of an empty heart.

Here is our great disability, our eyes can only see to the horizon of time.

That is where we are too, trapped in time but with our hope in eternity.

2. “carried him” (v19)

Notice the direction “up” and the location “loft”

“into a loft”: 5944: stair way, upper room, the sky

The deaths of at least 7 individuals in scripture are linked with the loft or upper room:

1. Eglon the king of Moab (Judges 3)

2. David mourns for his dead Absalom in a loft or upper room (2Sam 18)

3. Ahaziah falls through a lattice in the loft (2Kings 1)

4. Son of the widow of Zarephath

5. Shunammites son layed in the loft (2Kings 4)

6. Dorcas lay in the upper chamber (Acts 9)

7. Eutychus (Acts 20) falls from the upper chamber.

Out of these 7 deaths linked with the loft or upper room, 4 know the power of Gods resurrection – the 2 believers and the 2 children!

The widows son is taken not just to a place but to His presence: “where he abode”

Gods place for us is of course consistently defined by His presence there:

“today shalt thou be with me in paradise”

“Abraham's bosom”

“in my Father's house...”

3. “laid him upon his own bed” (v19)

Not only a place and a presence but perhaps also the thought of peace

The place where Elijah slept is now the place where the child sleeps!

There are those who do not simply die and perish but who “sleep in Jesus” (1 Thess 4) perhaps like Lazarus of John 11 “our friend Lazarus sleepeth”

This is where the child is left at the end of verse 19

Is the child left or is the child lost?

Out of the sight of the empty heart of the mother, is there the fear preying upon the mind that the child has not simply left but is actually lost?

Perhaps unappreciated by the mother, the one into whose hands she has committed her son is one who has a powerful intercessory ministry with God (v20) cf. James 5:17.

Will she see her son again? What is the setting of this reunion?

1. A cry / shout (17:20,21)

2. The “voice” of Elijah (17:22)

3. The resurrection of the child (17:22)

4. The child descends (17:22)

5. The child, the mother and Elijah united once again (17:23)

Oh yes, and who is Elijah?

1. 'El' – God

2. 'Jah' – Jehovah – the Lord

“For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.

1. For the Lord himself shall

2. descend from heaven

3. with a shout,

4. with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and

5. the dead in Christ shall rise first:

6. Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord...” (1Th 4:15-18)

In 2 Sam 12 David has a hope of being reunited with his dead child

In 1 Kings 17 the hope linked with Elijah is not that of being reunited in death but rather reunited in rapture together.

This is fitting of course for Elijah, since he is the prophet who himself never saw death but was raptured to heaven alive in the chariot of fire.

When we come to the hope of the Shunammite woman of 2 Kings 4 her hope is linked more resurrection, to be reunited in resurrection:

1. setting is “carmel” or fruitfulness

2. she is greated with a 3 fold “shalom” (2 Kings 4) as did the Lord His disciples after the resurrection in John 20.

Looking in particular at the NT miracle of the resurrection of Jarius daughter we find that in the pattern of Marks gospel this event is part of a triplet of events in Marks account of the ministry of the Lord Jesus.

There are 3 events in that gospel which are marked out as distinct as the only occasions when Christ is present together with the inner corm of the 3 disciples: Peter, James and John:

1. The raising of Jarius daughter – the resurrection of a dead child by Christ.

2. The Mount of transfiguration – the revelation of the future resurrection glory of Christ, along with the NT believers – Peter, James and John and Old Testament Saints – Elijah and Moses

3. The Garden of Gethsemane – the Lord returns from His sufferings to find His saints whom He has left in His absence, during the night to be active and in prayer, He finds them asleep and raises them up (Mark 14:37). This word “sleep” is the same word as that used of the sleeping saints whom the Lord finds at His return for the saints in 1 Thess 5:10.

Are these 3 groups in Marks gospel pointing forward to 3 groups who have part in His resurrection?

1. The child – covered by His blood

2. Expectant OT and NT saints who await and anticipate His coming

3. Sleeping NT saints – saved but not living on the tip toe of expectancy

The resurrection of Jarius daughter raises a number of problems:

1. Inability

2. Innocence

3. Inaccuracy

4. Inactivity

1. The Problem of Inability:

Can someone who is unable to believe be saved? The question of faith.

Can't believe is different from won't believe

Inability to accept Christ is distinct from active rejection of Christ

Gods eternal condemnation and personal, individual judgement of humanity is always based on the active rejection in part or in whole of the person and work of Christ.

“And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.” (Joh 3:19)

“He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” (Joh 3:18)

“And turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrha into ashes condemned them with an overthrow, making them an ensample unto those that after should live ungodly;” (2Pe 2:6)

“And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.” (Re 20:12-13)

The condemnation of the whole of humanity, in the opening 3 chapters of Romans and the conclusion of Romans 3:23 is on the basis not of our association with Adam – a reality that brings the condemnation of death in Roms 5:12 but it is on the basis of personal guilt, by virtue of the fact that I have transgressed the revelation of the true God in:

1. Creation (Roms 1)

2. Conscience (Roms 1+2)

3. Covenant (Roms 2+3)

4. Christ (Roms 3+4)

Condemnation to Divine Judgement in the first 3 chapters of Romans is as a consequence of personal corruption.

The condemnation of God in scripture rests upon those who are able but not willing to respond to God.

ii The Problem of Innocence:

What was her status before God?

Born in Adams sin, guilt imputed because Adam had sinned but without any personally committed sins – 'faultless failure'.

Was she condemned to judgement or covered by the blood?

The question of fairness.

Does God regard such as innocent?

Consider the following scriptures:

“For before the child shall know to refuse the evil, and choose the good, the land that thou abhorrest shall be forsaken of both her kings.”(Isa 7:16)

“Moreover your little ones, which ye said should be a prey, and your children, which in that day had no knowledge between good and evil, they shall go in thither, and unto them will I give it, and they shall possess it.”(Deu 1:39)

“Also in thy skirts is found the blood of the souls of the poor innocents: I have not found it by secret search, but upon all these.”(Jer 2:34)

“Because they have forsaken me, and have estranged this place, and have burned incense in it unto other gods, whom neither they nor their fathers have known, nor the kings of Judah, and have filled this place with the blood of innocents;”(Jer 19:4)

“Yea, they sacrificed their sons and their daughters unto devils, And shed innocent blood, even the blood of their sons and of their daughters, whom they sacrificed unto the idols of Canaan: and the land was polluted with blood.”(Psa 106:37-38)

iii The Problem of Inaccuracy:

Why did Christ say “she is not dead” ?

There are perhaps echoes here of John 11: “These things said he: and after that he saith unto them, Our friend Lazarus sleepeth; but I go, that I may awake him out of sleep.” (Joh 11:11), but the Lord goes a stage further than that here with Jarius daughter: “she is not dead but sleepeth” (Luke 8:52).

In John 11 Christ did not deny the reality of death but here in Luke chp 8 Christ denies the reality of death.

Why is this? Why does Christ not impute death to Jarius' daughter?

Was it simply because in this special case that Jarius' daughter was going to be raised from the dead or was there something different in essence about the death of Jarius' daughter compared to that of an adult?

The Lord did not say: 'she will not remain dead' or 'her death is not permanent' or as He did with Lazarus; 'your daughter will rise again' cf. John 11:23 but here with Jarius' daughter He denies the reality of death!!

The simple reading of the words of Christ here are not consistent with them being a reference to her impending resurrection at all!

Resurrection is life raised up from the dead.

The Lord denies that she is dead in the first place!

This is not the way the Lord approaches the issue of resurrection with Lazarus:

“Then said Jesus unto them plainly, Lazarus is dead.” (Joh 11:14). The Lord does not deny here the reality of Lazarus death!

How can the Lord say here “she is not dead but sleepeth” (Luke 8:52)?

Is it because He speaks not only as a man amongst men but as God?

Consider a very similar statement in this connection concerning the patriachs of old: “Now that the dead are raised, even Moses shewed at the bush, when he calleth the Lord the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. For he is not a God of the dead, but of the living: for all live unto him.” (Lu 20:37-38)

4. The Problem of Inactivity:

Why the wait?

Why the delay?

The Lord could have gone to Jarius house at the stage of Luke 8:4, but He took time to deal with the women with the issue of blood.

Why was this?

1. Jarius daughter had enjoyed 12 years of life.

2. The woman had endured 12 years of death!

But if Jarius daughter died and went to hell how could that delay have been justified?

Taken from a message preached at New Cumnock Gospel Hall on 1st September 2009

by Dr J Stewart Gillespie

Click the link below to listen the MP3 recording of this message:

When a Child Dies: Finding God's Grace in our Greatest Grief: Pictures of Grace to a Child

Other messages on Pauls Epistle to the Romans are downloadable in MP3 format from:

http://www.newcumnock.org/romans.html