Introduction
Briefly review the distinction(s) between
justification and sanctification (especially penalty vs. power).
Many people
think that justification impedes sanctification because it encourages moral laxness.
Read 5:20-6:2a. Paul's opponents accused him of teaching, "If God's grace
covers you no matter how much you sin, why not sin more so you can get more grace?"
Such people usually prescribe another model for sanctification--which Paul calls
"under law" (6:14).
It relies on FEAR-THREAT MOTIVATION
("Stop sinning or God will reject you") & WILL-POWER DYNAMIC ("Just
do it" - terminate your wrong behaviors and do what is right).
Although
this may sound reasonable, Paul warns that it will never liberate us from slavery
to sin (implication of 6:14a). It may produce superficial behavioral change, but
it will not free you from sin in a deep way, and it will produce prideful self-righteousness,
which is only another form of bondage!
Instead, we need to
pursue a different model for sanctification--what Paul calls "under grace."
This
model begins with a radically different MOTIVATION, by taking the FEAR-THREAT
off the table and affirming that we are unconditionally accepted by God. It also
has a radically different DYNAMIC also, which Paul reveals through three key terms
in 6:2b-13. WARNING: This is more "meat!"
Know
Sanctification
begins not with something you do for God, but with learning about something God
did for you. Three times (6:3,6,9), Paul says we "know" something that
forms the basis for our sanctification. What is it that we need to know?
Read
6:2b-4. Paul says God has done two things for every Christian that form the foundation
for our sanctification.
First, he has "baptized" us
into Christ. This "baptism" is not Christian water baptism; it is what
Paul elsewhere calls the "baptism by the Holy Spirit." Baptizw
was a generic term that meant to "put into" or "immerse" so
that the thing baptized takes on some of the properties of the thing into which
it was baptized. Garments were "baptized" into dye so that the garments
took on the color of the dye. In the same way, God's Spirit "baptizes"
you into Christ when you believe in him--so that you become identified with Christ
in certain key ways.
Second, because we have been baptized into Christ,
we somehow participated in his death and resurrection--and we receive certain
benefits from this participation. This sounds weird because it is not a truth
that we experience. Once I received Christ, I did not recover memories of hanging
on the cross, I didn't start having dreams of being nailed through my hands and
feet, I can't feel what it was like to lay in the tomb. Neither did Paul. He is
describing something that is real even though you didn't experience it.
If
you were here last week, this should sound familiar to you. We learned that because
of our biological descent from Adam, we were "in Adam" when he rebelled
against God in the Garden, that we "participated" in his decision to
rebel (even though we have no memory or experience of this), and that we inherit
certain negative consequences from his disobedience (death; condemnation; sin-nature).
You
may also remember that the only way out of this plight is to become a descendent
of a new "Adam" who obeyed God. If we could be adopted into that "Adam's"
line, then we would inherit the positive consequences of his obedience. This is
exactly what God has done. He has sent Jesus as the "last Adam," who
started a new humanity and obeyed God by going to the Cross. When you receive
Christ, you are born spiritually into his family, you participated in his death
and resurrection, and inherit all that he accomplished through them (GOD'S ACCEPTANCE;
UNDER HIS PERFECT CARE; A ROLE IN HIS PLAN; DETAINED FOR ETERNAL LIFE).
What
does this have to do with sanctification? Lots--read 6:5,6. Here is some more
meat! The desired outcome is clear enough--"that we might no longer be slaves
to sin." But the means to it is not. Let's take it phrase by phrase.
"Our
old self was crucified with him . . . " "Old self"
refers to your old identity as a descendent of Adam. That identity was destroyed
at the cross (2 Cor. 5:17?).
" . . . that
our body of sin might be done away with . . . " "Body
of sin" refers to your sin-nature, which you inherited from Adam (5:19a).
"Done away with" is katargew, and should be translated "taken
out of authority." Paul uses the same word in 7:2 ("released from").
He
is not saying that you no longer have a sin-nature (this passage would be unnecessary
then!), but that your change in identity/descent has effected a change in your
relationship with your sin-nature. Whereas before you were under its authority,
now its authority over you has been broken so that you are free to experience
"newness of life" by following God.1
This
is pretty abstract. Maybe a couple of illustrations will help.
Imagine
being born into a very abusive family. As a small child, you have no choice about
the parental mistreatment you receive. Finally, the court intervenes and authorizes
a healthy couple to adopt you. Since you live in the same town, you still see
your biological family, you still remember their mistreatment, they still try
to get you to submit to their manipulation and abuse. But because you now have
new legal identity, your relationship with them has changed. You no longer have
to submit to their authority, and you can begin to experience a new family life
with your new parents.
When the Thirteenth Amendment became law in December
18, 1865, the legal identity of African Americans in the South changed. Their
old identity as property/slaves was "killed." They received a new legal
identity as citizens. A census taken on December 19 would have shown a huge increase
in the population of the South. Why was this important? Because this changed
their relationship to their previous owners. Their previous owners continued
to exist, but their authority over them was now removed, so that they were no
longer legally obliged to live as slaves. They were legally free to walk off the
plantations into new lives.
How important was this knowledge?
Do you know that thousands of them continued to live out their lives as slaves
because their ex-owners successfully kept this information from them?
In
the same way, many Christians continue to live in slavery because they do not
know this truth! Therefore, the first step in sanctification under grace is to
study, discuss, review, and prayerfully reflect on this truth until you really
understand it!
But it is possible to understand it and still not benefit
from this knowledge, unless you respond to it in two key ways . . .
Consider
Read
6:11. Here is the first thing Paul calls us to do. "Consider" is logizwmai,
an accounting term meaning to enter a transaction into the ledger. If you've ever
kept a checking account, you know how important it is to do this.
We
all know what happens if we keep spending while failing to enter withdrawals into
the ledger ("WE CAN'T BE OVERDRAWN; I STILL HAVE PLENTY OF CHECKS LEFT!").
But
think about it the other way. What if you'd never had more than $100 in your account,
and a stranger-benefactor called you and informed you that he had deposited $100,000
into your account? What if you fail to enter that deposit into your ledger and
keep on living as though it wasn't actually there?
In the same
way, God has entered something into our ledger--that we are now "dead to
sin" (freed from the authority of our sin-nature) and "alive to God"
(free to be transformed by God in every are of our lives). To "consider"
this means to consciously choose to believe and affirm this to yourself and to
God--in spite of contrary feelings, thoughts, prior experience.
You
can't expect your sin-nature to be quiet or agree with this. It will continue
to tell you that you are its slave, that you'll never be able to be freed, etc.
This is why you have to decide to reject its lies and affirm what God says is
true.
This refers to your general view of yourself ("I'm
just a loser.") and also to specific areas of your life ("Others can
be freed in this area, but not me."). "God, even though my feelings
are screaming that I am a slave in this area, I elect to believe your Word that
I am not, and that you are willing and able to change me."
This
is crucial, even though nobody sees it. But there is another response that is
just as crucial . . .
Present
Read
6:12,13. What does "present" mean? It involves actual obedience to God's
moral will (6:16 - " . . . of obedience, resulting in
righteousness"). But not just impersonal will-power:
We
present ourselves "to God"--a personal giving of ourselves to him in
general, and in area after area, and situation by situation. "Here I am,
Lord. I believe you love me, and I want serve you. What would you have me do?"
We
present ourselves "as those alive from the dead"--knowing and considering
our new identity as free adopted children, rather than approaching him as alienated
slaves trying to earn his acceptance.
We present ourselves to God "as
his instruments"--depending him to empower us and work through us to accomplish
his will in the world.
I love Mary's response to God in Lk. 1:38 (read).
Obedience in this sense is not impersonal or legalistic. It is a profoundly personal
expression of trust in God, and the pathway to experience more of his goodness
and faithfulness (Jn. 15:10,11).
When we present ourselves
to God in this way, he reveals to us specific, personalized steps of faith to
take. These steps often involve a negative (6:12,13a - "do not"); they
usually involve a positive (6:13b - "present"). They are always consistent
with scripture's moral teaching, and they always ultimately involve loving God
and expressing his love to other people. And they are almost always scary, because
we know we can't do them by our own power (EXAMPLES)
As we present ourselves
to God in this way, we will gradually experience more and more freedom from sin
to serve God and love people. This gives us more confidence in this truth, paves
the way for additional freedom in other areas . . .
Don't
get the cart before the horse! Before you can have a new identity and experience
this freedom, you have to receive Christ.
Footnote
Copyright
1999 Gary DeLashmutt