September 5 - Romans 6:9-11

 

Paul’s Epistle to the Romans

September 4, 2021

Opening Prayer

Psalm 123

To you I lift up my eyes,
    O you who are enthroned in the heavens!
Behold, as the eyes of servants
    look to the hand of their master,
as the eyes of a maidservant
    to the hand of her mistress,
so our eyes look to the Lord our God,
    till he has mercy upon us.

 Have mercy upon us, O Lord, have mercy upon us,

    for we have had more than enough of contempt.
Our soul has had more than enough
    of the scorn of those who are at ease,
    of the contempt of the proud.

Prolegomena

In Romans 6:9 we get a glimpse of the logic of the world – death reigns

-        This notion is central to evolutionary theory – that which cannot adapt to reproduce dies.

o   There seems to be an assumption that evolution is upward.

-        This is the logic of karma – one gets what one deserves. But Christ did not deserve death.

-        This is the logic of political power with threats and punishment.

-        This is what Christ has overcome for us.

The new logic of Jesus is represented in John 10:10 – I have come that they may have life and have it to the full/in abundance.

Romans 6:5-11

 For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. 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. For one who has died has been set free from sin. Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. 10 For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. 11 So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.

v. 10

“In the Scriptures we learn that there are three kinds of death. The first is when we die to sin and live to God. Blessed is that death which, escaping from sin and devoted to God, separates us from what is mortal and consecrates us to him who is immortal. The second death is the departure from this life.… The third death is that of which it is said: ‘Let the dead bury their dead.’” Ambrose (340-397): On the Death of His Brother Satyrus 2.36.[1]

1.     When we come to faith – Baptism.

2.     When we stop breathing.

3.     When a person does not receive Jesus’ salvation.

Christ died to sin

-        He died in such a way as to atone for our sins.

-        “What does ‘died to sin’ mean? It means that he was not subject to sin but that, in order to destroy it and remove its power, he died for our sin. Do you see how Paul frightens them? For since Christ does not die twice, there is no second washing, so you had better steer clear of any inclination toward sin!” Chrysostom (347-407): Homilies on Romans 11.

Christ died once and for all.

-        The way he died, he died once and never again.

-        The adverb is translated - “once and for all” or “once and never again.”

-        Michael Card – “one final perfect word”

The life he lives he lives to God.

v.11

In the same way (as Jesus died to sin and lives to God) you also you also consider yourselves to be dead to sin and living to God in Christ Jesus.

 

How now shall we live?

-        The early leaders of the church emphasized this Christ died once and lives to urge believers to shun sin, and to not return to it over and over again.

-        Notice the quote from Chrysostom above, “…so you had better steer clear of any inclination toward sin!”

-        Dietrich Bonhoeffer – Cheap Grace

-        James 2 – faith without works is dead.

-        Romans 6:1 – Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means!

-        This is at the heart of repentance.

o   “Repentance, therefore, is nothing other than a return and approach to Baptism. We repeat and do what we began before, but abandoned.” – Large Catechism

-        Psalm 23:6 – Surely goodness and mercy (lovingkindness/grace) shall follow (pursue! chase!) me all the days of my life; and I will dwell in (return to, repent to) the house of the Lord for ever.

 What is most difficult about this for us is that our repentance and changed life flow from the righteousness that comes by faith, and we often get it turned around thinking that to get the righteousness we must repent and change. They are two sides of the same coin.

 



[1] All quotes from the Early Church Fathers are from Bray, G. (Ed.). (1998). Romans (Revised) (pp. 155–159). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.

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