Vital Signs In Christian Experience Series

ROMS 7:1- 25 VITAL SIGNS IN CHRISTIAN EXPERIENCE.

PAUL HAS GONE TO GREAT LENGTHS TO POINT OUT THAT A CHRISTIAN IS SOMEBODY WHO IS DEAD TO SIN AND ALIVE IN CHRIST. A PERSON WHO HAS BEEN SET FREE FROM THE SLAVERY OF SIN TO BECOME A SLAVE TO GOD. SUMMING UP CHAPTER SIX PAUL HAS STATED THAT A CHRISTIAN HAS RECEIVED A NEW LIFE 6:2,3,4,6 A NEW NATURE 6:5,11 AND A NEW FREEDOM 6:12,13,14,16. ALL THIS OF COURSE RAISED SERIOUS QUESTIONS FOR HIS FELLOW JEWS.. LET’S RECAP THE DILEMMA FOR PAULS HEARERS......

1ST QUESTION 6:1 “IF WE ARE SAVED BY GRACE SHALL WE GO ON SINNING?” A LICENCE TO SIN BECAUSE GRACE WILL INCREASE “BY NO MEANS” PAUL REFUTES THAT CHARGE WITH NO GRACE IS NOT A LICENCE TO SIN BUT GRACE ACTUALLY LEADS TO INCREASING HOLINESS.

2ND QUESTION 6:15 OKAY SHALL WE CONTINUE TO SIN BECAUSE WE ARE NO LONGER UNDER LAW BUT UNDER GRACE? “(ANTINOMIANISM) AGAINST THE LAW. CERTAINLY NOT “HE EXPLAINS WE HAVE A NEW MASTER UNDER GRACE AND WE OFFER OURSELVES TO HIM IN OBEDIENCE, WHICH LEADS US TO UPHOLD GODS WORD RATHER THAN NULLIFY IT. ROM 3:31. DO WE NULLIFY THE LAW BY FAITH NOT AT ALL WE UPHOLD IT.

PAUL HAS MADE THE CHRISTIANS POSITION QUITE CLEAR IN REGARD TO THE LAW .HE IS FREE FROM THE LAW AND DOES NOT NEED TO KEEP IT TO BE SAVED, YET HE IS NOT FREE FROM THE LAW, FOR HE NEEDS TO KEEP IT TO PROVE THAT HE IS SAVED. THIS WASN’T EASY FOR THEM TO UNDERSTAND SO IN THE OPENING VERSES PAUL EXPLAINS HIMSELF A LITTLE MORE....

WITH AN ILLUSTRATION FROM MARRIAGE

1. A CHRISTIAN IS RELEASED FROM THE LAW - “HOW WE COME UNDER GRACE.” V1-6 .

V1 PAUL IS SAYING HERE IS THE LEGAL PRINCIPLE: ANY LAW CAN ONLY MAKE A CLAIM ON A PERSON WHEN THEY ARE ALIVE WHEN WE DIE OUR DEBTS DIE YOU CANNOT SEND THE BAILIFFS ROUND TO THE MORTUARY OR CEMETERY AND START KNOCKING ON THE COFFIN, ITS NONSENSE THEIR DEAD! LAW IS FOR LIFE BUT DEATH ANNULS IT.

MARRIAGE ILLUSTRATION: V1 – 3. LOOK AT A MARRIED COUPLE THEIR BOUND TO EACH OTHER AS LONG AS THEY LIVE UNDER LAW THEY ARE HUSBAND AND WIFE - IF ONE HAS AN AFFAIR WHILST THE OTHER IS ALIVE THEY COMMIT ADULTERY BECAUSE THEY ARE BOUND TO EACH OTHER. YET IF THE OTHER HAS DIED IT FREES THE OTHER TO RE–MARRY THEY ARE NO LONGER BOUND BY THAT PREVIOUS MARRIAGE.

V4 - 6 THE POINT PAUL IS CONVEYING TO US IS THAT GODS LAW ALSO CLAIMS LORDSHIP OVER US, WHILE WE LIVE , ALL OF US ARE UNDER GODS LAW EVERYBODY WITHOUT EXCEPTION. AND SO WHEN WE BREAK THAT LAW, WE SIN AND WE COME UNDER ITS CONDEMNATION BECAUSE WE ARE BOUND TO IT.

V5 THE OLD WAY: THE LAW BY ITS COMMANDMENTS AROUSED OUR SINFUL PASSIONS TO SIN. HOWEVER HARD YOU TRIED TO BE UPRIGHT; WE ALL HAVE BROKEN THE COMMANDMENTS AND AS A RESULT WILL FACE CONDEMNATION.

SO WHERE ARE WE NOW IN REGARD TO THE LAW? AFTER ALL WERE DEAD. DOES THAT LEAVE US IN A STATE OF LIMBO? FREE TO DO AS WE PLEASE? NO A CHRISTIAN HAS BEEN RE-MARRIED TO CHRIST, V4B WHO WAS RAISED FROM THE DEAD. HE IS THE VERY ONE WHO GAVE AND FULFILLED THE LAWS DEMANDS .... WE ARE CALLED NOW TO BEAR FRUIT FOR GOD ... WHAT IS THIS FRUIT?

V6 THE NEW WAY: THE FRUIT IS TO LIVE BY THE SPIRIT AND IS SEEN IN OUR OBEDIENCE AND LOVE TO GOD. AS JESUS SAID IF YOU LOVE ME YOU SHALL KEEP MY COMMANDMENTS JHN 14:15, 15:10. THE FRUIT THAT GOD REQUIRES IS HOLY LIVING CHARACTERISED BY OBEDIENCE TO THE LAW. YET THIS IS NO LEGALISTIC CONSTRAINT WE DON’T ATTAIN IT IN OUR OWN STRENGTH BUT IN A NEW WAY BY THE SPIRIT AND NOT BY THE OLD WITTEN CODE.

ITS PLAIN A CHRISTIAN IS NOT ANTINOMIAN (AGAINST THE LAW) – NOT EVEN A COLD LEGALIST - BUT A PERSON WHO IS UNDER GRACE, RELEASED FROM LAW , WHO LIVES BY THE SPIRIT, WHO DELIGHTS IN OBEYING GODS LAW OUT OF LOVE.

LET ME ILLUSTRATE....A HUSBAND AND WIFE DIDN’T REALLY LOVE EACH OTHER. THE MAN WAS VERY DEMANDING, SO MUCH SO THAT HE PREPARED A LIST OF RULES AND REGULATIONS FOR HIS WIFE TO FOLLOW. HE INSISTED THAT SHE READ THEM OVER EVERY DAY AND OBEY THEM TO THE LETTER. AMONG OTHER THINGS, HIS “DO’S AND DON’TS” INDICATED SUCH DETAILS AS WHAT TIME SHE HAD TO GET UP IN THE MORNING, WHEN HIS BREAKFAST SHOULD BE SERVED, AND HOW THE HOUSEWORK SHOULD BE DONE. SHE OFTEN FAILED AND COME UNDER CONSTANT CRITICISM.

AFTER SEVERAL LONG YEARS, THE HUSBAND DIED. AS TIME PASSED, THE WOMAN FELL IN LOVE WITH ANOTHER MAN, ONE WHO DEARLY LOVED HER. SOON THEY WERE MARRIED. THIS HUSBAND DID EVERYTHING HE COULD TO MAKE HIS NEW WIFE HAPPY, CONTINUALLY SHOWERING HER WITH TOKENS OF HIS APPRECIATION. ONE DAY AS SHE WAS CLEANING HOUSE, SHE FOUND TUCKED AWAY IN A DRAWER THE LIST OF COMMANDS HER FIRST HUSBAND HAD DRAWN UP FOR HER. AS SHE LOOKED IT OVER, IT DAWNED ON HER THAT EVEN THOUGH HER PRESENT HUSBAND HADN’T GIVEN HER ANY KIND OF LIST, SHE WAS DOING EVERYTHING HER FIRST HUSBAND’S LIST REQUIRED ANYWAY. SHE REALIZED SHE WAS SO DEVOTED TO THIS MAN THAT HER DEEPEST DESIRE WAS TO PLEASE HIM OUT OF LOVE, NOT OBLIGATION. THAT IS A PICTURE OF A CHRISTIAN RELEASED FROM LAW LIVING UNDER GRACE.