Not Under Law? (Romans 6:14b)

Introduction: The Challenge of Difficult Scriptures

0:01 The following sermon was delivered on Sunday morning, January 14th, 1996, at the Trinity Baptist Church of Montville, New Jersey. Now as the framework for our introduction to our study in the Word of God this morning, I'm going to ask that you turn with me to Peter's second letter, the book of 2 Peter, chapter 3, and follow as I read in your hearing verses 15 through 18. 2 Peter, chapter 3, beginning the reading at verse 15.

0:41 And account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation, even as our beloved brother Paul also, according to the wisdom given to him, wrote unto you, as also in all, all his epistles, speaking in them of these things, wherein are some things hard to be understood, which the ignorant and unsteadfast rest, as they do also the other scriptures,

1:26 unto their own destruction. You therefore, beloved, knowing these things beforehand, beware, lest being carried away with the error of the wicked, you fall from your own steadfastness. But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and forever.

1:59 Amen. Now have you ever wondered what the apostles thought of each other's, letters when they had occasion to receive them and to read them? The passage read in your hearing clearly indicates that Peter was aware of the contents of at least some of the letters or epistles which his fellow apostle Paul had written at the time that Peter wrote 2 Peter. And if you've ever wondered what one apostle thought,

2:39 when he had occasion to receive and read the epistle or the epistles of another apostle, this passage, more than any other single passage within the apostolic letters or the apostolically approved letters that constitute the epistles of the New Testament, gives us at least a partial insight concerning the epistles of the New Testament. concerning the epistles of the New Testament. Concerning what Peter thought about some of the contents of some of the epistles of his fellow apostle Paul.

3:18 You will note that he states, first of all, that in those epistles there are some things hard to be understood. Verse 16, wherein are some things hard to be understood. Now when an apostle, who had a unique commission and a unique endowment of the Holy Spirit as a foundation stone in the Church of Christ, an apostle to whom God would give special revelation so that what such an apostle would write under the inspiration of the Spirit

4:01 would actually become part of the Scriptures, for you'll notice he refers to the other Scriptures, on an equal plane with the epistles of Paul. Nonetheless, this apostle Peter said that as he read some of the epistles of his fellow apostle Paul that came into his hands, there were some things hard to be understood. And he doesn't say unless you're an apostle, or except in my case. The clear indication is that they were hard, Hard to be understood, not only by the rank and file of the people to whom they came, but even by a fellow apostle.

4:47 And the second thing he says is this, that it's these things which in a peculiar way, ignorant and unstable people twist to their own spiritual destruction, even as they do other scriptures. Do you see that very clearly stated at the last part, in the last part of verse 16? These things hard to be understood are the things which the ignorant and the unstable rest or twist as they do also the other scriptures unto their own destruction.

5:26 Now it's a tragic thing when people destroy their souls by willful ignorance of God's truth. And it's...

5:35 It's Peter who uses that very terminology in an earlier chapter. He says, the people are willfully ignorant of certain things. It's like the man who says, I can't see anything standing out under the light of the sun under a cloudless sky, but he's taken his hands and clapped them over his closed eyes and says, I can see nothing. Now it's tragic.

6:05 When people destroy... They destroy themselves through willful ignorance.

6:10 But here we have a case where people take the very light of scripture and turn it into an instrument of self-destruction. Which things, he says, ignorant and unstable people twist as they do the other scriptures to their own destruction. It's possible to pave your own way to hell out of the blocks of text of scripture. Now that's what this passage affirms.

6:40 Now in the light of those things, that there are some things hard to be understood, and it is just such things which ignorant and unstable people twist to their own spiritual detriment, what does he exhort his readers to do? Well, two things. Verse 17. You, therefore, beloved, knowing these things beforehand, beware beyond your guard, lest, being carried away with the...

7:07 The error of the wicked, the very error that is comprised of the stuff of scripture, wrongly used. You, beware, lest you be carried away with them. They are to be on guard against the erroneous use of scripture that would undermine their own spiritual stability and their persevering faith. And then positively, verse...

7:37 Verse 18. They are rather to grow in the grace and in the true knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Now why have I read these verses and highlighted the thrust of their teaching in the introduction this morning? Well, I do so for this very basic reason.

The Unchanging Authority of the Ten Commandments

8:01 In our nine previous introductory messages, in preparation... And for a careful consideration of the Ten Commandments, I have attempted to convince your minds from the Word of God concerning two foundational principles.

8:21 The first, that man, as created by God, is under an inescapable obligation to render perfect obedience to God. This is man's obligation. This is man's obligation as God's creature. And then secondly, I have sought to establish that the obedience which God requires of man is comprehensively summarized in the Ten Commandments.

8:52 It is not exhaustively detailed and explicated in the Ten Commandments, but the obedience God requires of man is comprehensively... And in seeking to establish that principle, we came to the third line of argument, which was the obvious presence of the Ten Commandments in the New Testament as an unchanging and binding standard of righteousness.

9:29 And beginning with Matthew 5, 17 to 20, expounding those verses and then seeing the outworking, and then seeing the outworking, and then seeing the outworking, and then seeing the outworking, in the next two paragraphs, we move through a number of passages, concluding with an exposition of 1 Timothy 1, 3 to 11, the subject of which is the lawful use of the law. And from those nine passages, I trust you became convinced that indeed the obedience which God requires of man is comprehensively summarized,

10:07 in the Ten Commandments, and that these commandments did not cease to have binding authority with the coming of Christ, with the death and resurrection of Christ, and the descent of the Spirit, and all of the glorious provisions of new covenant salvation and grace, but that we find those ten words of God, the Decalogue, the moral law of God, summarized. Summarized in the Ten Commandments, embedded in the documents of the New Covenant. Now at this point, what I would love to do is to proceed to the last two concerns

10:49 that have to do with setting out a responsible introductory framework with the Ten Commandments, namely, to set out the biblical goals that we will consciously and purposely pursue in our study of the Ten Commandments. Goals that I will set before you, God willing, again and again and again and again and again. I hope not ad nauseum, but unto our permanent spiritual prophet. I'd love to launch into opening up those goals from the Scriptures,

11:27 and then to articulate from the Scriptures the principles by which we are rightly to understand and use the Ten Commandments. Some of those principles that are clearly addressed in the shorter and larger catechism. However, the constraints of some of your personal comments to me, and my knowledge of some reoccurring opposition to the things I've already attempted to establish from the Word of God, both in contemporary Christianity and throughout the history of the Church, I am constrained by them.

12:08 I am constrained, as Jude said, not to pursue my natural desire, but to pause and to address certain texts of Scripture which are continually brought forward in the service of seeking to overthrow what we've established in recent weeks, namely, that the Ten Commandments are indeed a binding and unchanging principle. I am constrained, as Jude said, not to pursue my natural desire, but to pause and to address certain texts of Scripture which are continually brought forward in the service of seeking to overthrow what we've established in recent weeks, namely, that the Ten Commandments are genuinely bring forth a existing standard of righteousness. And I refer to such texts as Galatians three. If some of you have not heard this objection, the Lord spares you.

Addressing Problem Passages: Galatians and Romans

12:51 It won't be long before you hear the objection in your own consecutive reading through the Scriptures. You might come to this passage and say, Well, how in the world does this fit with what these other passages have established? I think it's a rather prominent sit-in. established. Galatians chapter 3, beginning in verse 23, but before faith came, we were kept in

13:14 ward under the law, shut up to the faith which should afterward be revealed, so that the law is become our tutor unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But now that faith is come, we are no longer under a tutor. Well, there you have it. The law had the function of being a schoolmaster or a tutor up until and pointing to Christ. But now that Christ has come and the truth

13:51 of the gospel, the faith of Christ has been revealed, we are no longer under the tutor. That's what the passage says. That's right. That's what it says. But what does it mean? That's the question. Or Galatians chapter

14:11 5 in verse 18, describing the necessity and the duty of walking in the Spirit, walking in the Spirit in the midst of conflict between flesh and spirit, verse 17. Then the apostle writes in Galatians 5, verse 18, but if you are led by the Spirit, then you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. But what could be plainer? If the Holy Spirit is the regulating, guiding principle of my life, if I'm being led by the Spirit, I'm not under the law. What could be

14:50 plainer? That the Ten Commandments as a comprehensive summary of moral duty does not have a word to say to me if I'm being led by the Spirit. Isn't that what it says? Or Romans chapter 7. Turn back to Romans 7. Romans chapter 7 and verse 4.

15:21 Wherefore, my brethren, you also were made dead to the law through the body of Christ, that you should be joined to another, even to him who was raised from the dead, that we might bring forth fruit unto God. In union with Christ, we have been raised from the dead. We have been raised from the dead. We have been raised from the dead. We have been raised from the dead.

15:42 We have been made dead to the law. You can't speak to dead people and command them to do anything. Your authority over them is severed by their death. We were made dead to the law in union with Christ. Therefore, the law has nothing to say to us. If we are in union with Christ, all we need

16:07 do is in the virtue of that union bring forth fruit unto God by the enabling grace and power of the Spirit. Or Romans 7.6. But now we have been discharged from the law. Remember what the Bible

16:25 says? We've been released. We've been discharged from the law, having died to that wherein we were held. How in the world does this square with what you've been teaching us, Pastor? And then the coup

16:40 de grace is Romans 6.14b. For sin shall not have dominion over us. For sin shall not have dominion over us.

16:46 For you are not under law, but under grace. Now do you see, dear people, why we've got to take time to deal with these problem passages? Convinced that the exposition of the previous nine passages, starting with Matthew 5, was not an exercise in corporate resting of the Scriptures. Convinced, and I trust not without warrant, that as we studied those passages, your judgment was indeed persuaded that the Spirit of God has embedded the moral law of God as

17:27 distilled in the Ten Commandments, in the New Covenant documents, as a changeless and binding standard of righteousness for all men, including Christians. And you became persuaded of that. But now, in your own reading the Bible, you come across texts such as I've read in your hearing. More likely, when you are sharing with others, particularly, why you are sensitive to the demands of the Fourth

17:59 Commandment. Why is it that you are so persnickety about keeping one day in seven holy unto the Lord, most frequently, in seeking to explain why you do what you do on the Lord's day? One of these texts is the fourth commandment.

18:19 This text will be stuck under your nose. I doubt you'll find anyone, if you were to go out and commit adultery, coming to you, and you are then explaining why you knew adultery was wrong, and you pointed to the Seventh Commandment, that you'd have anyone say, but don't you know you're not under law, but under grace, and encourage you to go on in your adultery? No. Most likely, one of the texts I've read in your hearing will come into discussion with other people.

18:49 This text will be stuck under your nose. I doubt you'll find anyone, if you were to go out and commit adultery, coming to you, and you're not under law, but under grace, and encourage you to go on in your adultery? No. Most likely, one of the texts I've read in your hearing will come into discussion with other people.

19:19 This text will be stuck under your nose. I doubt you'll find anyone, if you were to go out and commit adultery, coming to you, and you're not under law, but under grace, and encourage you to go on in your adultery? No. Most likely, one of the texts I've read in your hearing will come into discussion with other people.

19:49 I doubt you'll find anyone, if you were to go out and commit adultery, coming to you, and you're not under law, but under grace, and encourage you to go on in your adultery? No. Most likely, one of the texts I've read in your hearing will come into discussion with other people.

20:19 I doubt you'll find anyone, if you were to go out and commit adultery, coming to you, and you're not under law, but under grace, and encourage you to go on in your adultery? No. Most likely, one of the texts I've read in your hearing will come into discussion with other people.

Principles for Interpreting Difficult Passages

20:50 If you were to burn a whole block of other clear, unequivocal teaching of the Word of God, what should you do? Well, remember, there are always two things you should keep in mind when you come into such an arena of apparent conflict or contradiction in the Scripture. The first is this. To say to yourself, whatever this passage means, whatever these other passages mean, they cannot mean anything.

21:21 The second is this. To say to yourself, whatever this passage means, whatever these other passages mean, they cannot mean anything.

21:51 The third is this. To say to yourself, whatever this passage means, whatever these other passages mean, they cannot mean anything. The understanding of that passage will overturn whole blocks of clear, biblical revelation.

22:29 And the second thing you must always do is this. Say to yourself, whatever these passages mean, they cannot mean that the grace of God or the Spirit of God have altered the changeless standard of righteousness, which God Himself calls, in Romans 7-12, holy. And just and good. Surely grace can't change what's holy. It can't change what is just and what is good. For what is holy and just and good is a reflection of the very changeless character of God.

23:09 So though I may not at present understand, how do I fit in these statements? If you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. With these clear passages...

23:21 I say, I take my stand here. Whatever they say, whatever God intended them to mean, unless we're prepared to say that the Bible is just a massive collection of self-contradictory data, if God is God and God is true to Himself, whatever this passage says, it does not say anything that overturns the obvious, clear teaching of these other massive portions of the Word of God. And secondly, whatever such passages teach, they certainly cannot teach that the standard of righteousness has been altered. It may be surrounded with motives that it never had before Christ came.

24:06 It may be surrounded and have the light of examples in the person and work of Christ that it did not have before Christ came. But that which is holy and just and good, and Romans 7, 14, and spiritual, is always holy and just and good and spiritual. Now, if we do anything other with the passages than those two things, we're doing exactly what the cultists do with the Bible.

24:42 You establish with a Jehovah's Witness from John 1, 1, In the beginning was the Word. In the beginning was the Word. He was with God and the Word was God. You take that person to another passage where Jesus says, I and my Father are one.

24:57 And what does the Jehovah's Witness do? He brings forward a text that says, My Father is greater than I. Look, see, the Father is greater than the Son. He brings forward a passage where he says, No man knows the day nor the hour of the second coming.

25:11 The angels do not, nor the Son. And what does the Jehovah's Witness do? He takes these statements of Scripture, and with them seeks to overturn the great block of biblical teaching concerning the deity of Christ.

25:26 When you make it known to a Christian friend that you believe the Bible teaches in God's certain, effectual gathering of his own people to himself, that there is an effectual calling taught in the Bible, all that the Father giveth me shall come to me. What will such a person do? He'll say, wait a minute. Didn't Jesus say when he wailed, Over Jerusalem, how oft would I have gathered you, and you would not?

25:54 He wanted to draw them, but he couldn't, because they wouldn't.

26:01 Now you see, the moment you take a passage that upon first reading seems to overturn the overarching teaching of the Word of God, you must not now suspend what has been established by the overarching teaching of the Word of God and say, I'm ready to throw it up. I'm ready to throw it up in the air until I can resolve this particular passage. No, no. You say, whatever the passage means, since God is not a self-contradictory God, and He hasn't made His Word, the Bible, a collection of contradictions, for God is true and only speaks the truth,

26:41 therefore, I cling to the bulk of biblical teaching on the subject, and I'm prepared to wait for light until I see perspective, precisely how this or that portion fits in with the overall teaching of the Word of God. Do you grasp that, dear people? I'm being a pastor-teacher to you this morning. And this is absolutely crucial.

27:06 And when your feet are planted on the overarching teaching of the Word, and the issue is clear, you can afford the luxury of living comfortably with the inability to explain this or that isolation, isolated passage that on the surface of things doesn't seem to fit the overarching teaching of the Word of God, and continue to pray, continue to study, continue to look to God for light, and on some things, such as I've had occasion to say just this week when I get to heaven, the question you've asked me about that portion is one that I want to ask the Lord if it's proper to ask questions about the Bible when we get to heaven. And I'm content to wait until I get there to get the answer.

27:50 Now you say, Pastor Mark, you use yourself this morning. Folks, I'm not bound to my method, but I am bound by the Spirit of God and the Word of God to try to be a faithful pastor to you. And I've not been blethering. I've labored hours to reduce this opening 20 minutes to what I've reduced it to.

28:10 Please don't treat it lightly. I'm not just getting warmed up to get into the real stuff. This is real stuff. This is real stuff.

The Central Concern of Romans 6:14b's Context

28:19 And it's vital stuff. Now then, having said that, we come to our problem passage. There it is. Plain as the nose on my face and yours.

28:31 Romans 6, 14b. You, writing to the believers at Rome, are not under law. You may have a translation that puts the article. Sometimes the article thee is you.

28:44 Sometimes it isn't. And there is no real significance in the terminology. Some have tried to press it, but there really isn't. In most contexts, we'll know what is being spoken about from the context, so it's proper to render the text.

29:01 You are not under law, but under grace. In time figuring it out, it's plain what it says. You believers are not under law. Therefore, as believers, just as I'm not under the ceremonial law, and I don't go kill a bullock or a goat or a lamb, and I do not bring, a heave offering or a meal offering, I am not under the dietary laws.

29:31 I eat shrimp and give thanks to God for it. I have roast loin of pork and have a heart full of gratitude to God for it. In the same way, I am not under the Ten Commandments. It's all part of Mosaic law.

29:46 And my Bible says I'm not under law. Now there I take my stand. Well, yeah, your Bible does say you're not under law, but under grace. But is that what it means?

29:59 Well, how are we going to find out? Well, any responsible attempt to find out begins with what? When you're concerned about a passage, what's the first question you ask? What is the context?

30:16 So we start with Roman numeral number one. For you note takers who have been waiting me to get through my long introduction. The central concern of the context of these words. If you have a paragraphed Bible, or one that may have individual verses, but mark the beginning of paragraphs by some symbol, you know that verse 14 is the concluding statement of a shorter paragraph, verses 12 through 14, or of one long paragraph that began in verse 1 of chapter 6.

30:54 And that it is. It is a concluding statement. It is a crowning affirmation at the conclusion of a paragraph. It is a crowning affirmation at the conclusion of a paragraph.

31:03 It is a crowning affirmation at the conclusion of a paragraph. It is a conclusion of a very intricate and fundamental train of thought which was introduced in chapter 6 and verse 1. Now let's try to grasp in dependence upon the Holy Spirit and with earnest effort of mind and of heart the central concern of the context of these words of Romans 6, 14b. What is the central concern?

31:32 Well, if you will, remember Paul has been expounding the glorious gospel of Christ, having demonstrated that every human being in the world, regardless of whether or not he is a Jew, regardless of whether or not he's ever come in contact with the written revelation of God, every human being, Jew and Gentile alike, is under condemnation because of his sin and in need of that which, which only the gospel of Christ provides. Having proved that through the end of chapter 3 and verse 20, beginning in verse 21 of chapter 3,

32:16 Paul begins to expound the very heart, the very nerve centers of that glorious gospel of Christ that holds forth to hell-deserving sinners a justifying righteousness to be received, by faith and faith alone. He expounds the great truth that what we do not have to give us acceptance in the court of God, namely, a right standing with God. We have just the opposite. We have a bad standing before God.

32:54 We are guilty. We are condemned. We are hell and wrath deserving. The glorious proclamation of the gospel, is that God has done something in Christ that can give us a right standing before God in the court of heaven.

33:16 And what He has done focuses exclusively upon the work of His Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord. It is Christ alone who is our righteousness before God. And then He labors the point that that righteousness is put to our account and credited to us by faith alone. That the one divinely ordained method of obtaining that righteousness which is comprised of what Christ has done and Christ alone

33:57 is by faith and faith alone. Not faith plus circumcision. Not faith plus my obedience to the law of God from whatever motive. But the heart of the Pauline and biblical gospel is in order for guilty, hell-deserving sinners to have a righteousness that answers to the demands of God.

34:25 It is found in Christ alone and received by faith alone. Now, He's established that through chapter 3, verse 21, through chapter 5 and verse 11, and then in chapter 5 and verses 12 to the end of the chapter, He shows how this emphasis upon Christ alone has its roots in this striking parallel between Adam and Christ. So when you come to verse 12 of chapter 5, we're introduced to this concept.

35:08 Therefore, as through one man, you know who that is, Adam, sin entered into the world and death through sin, and so death passed unto all men for that all sinned. And there is a focus upon the fact that all humanity has been dealt with by God in terms of the man Adam. He was the great representative and organiser of the whole human. In the one man, Adam, we all sinned.

35:43 And in the one man, Adam, we all fell. He says there is another one man through whom not condemnation comes, but through whom righteousness, redemption, and acceptance with God comes. Verse 15, But not as the trespass, so also is the free gift. For if by the trespass of the one, Adam, the many, died, much more did the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one man, Christ Jesus, abound unto the many.

36:25 And so he shows that as our sinnerhood in a very sense has its aura in the one man and our natural being with him by simply being. So in the one man, Christ Jesus, our righteousness and our acceptance with God

37:02 you've got impolite sinners. You've got self-righteous sinners. You've got openly blaspheming, immoral, profligate sinners. But he says in essence, those distinctions really don't matter.

37:14 All that matters is this. In the one man, Christ Jesus, is righteousness, acceptance with God. And in the one man, Adam, there is sin and condemnation. That development of thought to a climax in verses 19-22.

37:32 And now I want you to follow. Because what are we trying to do? We're trying to get hold of the central concern of Romans 6, 14b. That's what we're seeking to do.

37:44 Verse 19 of chapter 5. As through the one man's disobedience the many were made or constituted sinners, even so through the obedience of the one Christ shall the many be made righteous. Now notice, and law came in beside. That is, there was a formal delivery of God's law after Adam's fall, after the human race is very clearly proven to be a race of sinners.

38:16 The law or law came in beside. For what end? That the trespass might abound. That is, that men might see the magnitude of their sin as they have this clear summary, this comprehensive, comprehensive summary of what it is to be a sinner.

38:37 What it is to be one who falls short of the glory of God. The law came in that sin might abound, but where sin abounded, grace did abound more exceedingly. That is, sin reigned in death in Adam. Even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life through Jesus Christ, our Lord.

39:05 What's the conclusion of Paul's teaching up to this point? Simply stated, it's this. We are not saved by keeping the law or by anything we do, but on the ground of what Christ and Christ alone has done. See how clearly he states that in verse 19?

39:25 As through the obedience of the one shall the many be made righteous. Let me put it as bluntly and crassly as I know how. If you, man, woman, boy, or girl sitting here this morning, are ever declared by the God who will determine your eternal destiny, if you are ever declared by the God of heaven to be right in His sight, right enough to be welcomed into heaven, right enough for God to say, enter into the kingdom prepared for you, there will be one fundamental reason and one only. And it's found in Romans 5.19.

40:04 The obedience, the obedience of Jesus Christ. That's it. That's it! His obedience to the law as lived out under the law, His bearing in His body as we shall see tonight our sins up to the cross and there made a curse for us so that all of the curses of the law when broken fell upon Him on behalf of those in whose room instead He bore that curse.

40:37 If you and I ever, ever stand righteous before God accepted in the court of heaven, there will be one ground and one ground only. It's what Christ has done for us. That's clear in the argument. But the second thing that's clear is the grace of God is displayed most abundantly where sin has been manifested most previously.

41:03 The grace of God is displayed most abundantly most abundantly where sin has been manifested most grievously. Look at verse 20 of chapter 5. And the law came in beside that the trespass by the pound. God didn't give the law to make men greater sinners, but by giving the law it manifested them to be greater sinners than they realized and as we shall see later on in the study today, God willing, it actually stirred them up to more sin.

41:39 The fault was not with the law. The fault lay with man. But because the law has come in alongside and trespass has abounded, then are we to conclude, uh-oh, man is then going to be shown to be such a terribly wicked sinner that somehow he'll raise up a mountain of sin that exceeds in height and magnitude and volume. The grace of God, Paul says, nowhere sin abounded.

42:09 Grace did abound. Grace did abound more exceedingly. The grace of God is displayed most abundantly where sin has manifested itself most grievously. Now, follow closely.

The Logical Question: Shall We Continue in Sin?

42:24 Put those two central issues together and what do you have?

42:30 We are not saved by our keeping of the law or anything we do. If we are saved, i.e., we are declared righteous, it will be on the basis of what Christ and Christ alone has done.

42:42 And instead, saving man, the more sin that needs to be cancelled, the more the grace of God shines in its brilliance. So we're saved by Christ alone and grace is most gloriously displayed where sin is most grievously committed. What's the next logical step to those realities? Well, if that's so, let's continue in sin.

43:14 That grace might abound. If all together we are raising up a mountain range of sin that goes from two feet to twenty thousand feet, why not all be committed to doubling our mountain of sin in the mountain range amongst us because wherever sin is abounding, grace goes higher and beyond it. You see the logic? If these two things, they're true, you're not saved by what you do.

43:48 You're not saved because you shaved down the mountain of your sin from two feet to one foot, from twenty thousand to ten thousand. You're not saved by shaving down the mountain of your sin. You're saved on the ground of the mountain of righteousness that Christ has effected. And the higher your mountain of sin, the more the grace of God is magnified.

44:11 How can you escape the logic? Let's continue in sin. In order to magnify grace.

44:20 You following now? You following? Well, that's exactly what Paul introduces in chapter 6. Look at the text.

44:27 What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? You see, once a man or woman understands the gospel, once a preacher preaches the biblical gospel, it won't be long before somebody accuses him, of teaching a doctrine that promotes a life of sin. If a preacher never gets accused of preaching doctrine that promotes a life of sin, he's not preaching the biblical gospel.

45:01 If you are so guarding your preaching and teaching and witnessing of the gospel that no one would ever draw the conclusion of chapter 6 and verse 1, you're not preaching the free, glorious, unfettered offer of a perfect righteousness in another person. Jesus Christ, received by faith alone, and swallowing up every objection, my sin is too great. No, where sin abounds, grace superabounds. And that kind of gospel will get you accused of preaching a doctrine that, well then, let's continue in sin that grace may abound.

45:41 That's why the Roman Catholic Church in her official doctrinal pronouncements in the Council of Trent pronounced an anathema upon Albert N. Martin for preaching what he preached this morning. A curse is pronounced on anyone who says, our salvation rests solely upon the work of Christ and is received by faith alone. I'm under the curse of Rome this morning.

46:10 I bear her curse gladly because the Scripture says, the curse that is causeless alighteth not, and their curses will never alight upon me. Now, that is the setting of verse 14b. It's this whole question of how do we line up a gospel that promises righteousness based on nothing I have done in the past, nothing I can do in the present, nothing I shall ever do in the future. It rests totally, solely, exclusively upon the obedience of Jesus Christ.

46:50 Period. Full stop. No comma leading to something else. No dash joined to something else.

46:59 No hyphen organically tied to something else. Christ alone. Dear people, in the name of God, have you grasped the gospel? Do you say, you don't know?

47:17 I don't care how big your mountain of sin is. My Jesus has raised up a mountain of righteousness that far exceeds it. And that, that righteousness in Christ is embraced or received by faith alone in Christ. And by embracing the Savior, you have that righteousness credited to you immediately upon believing, can I state it crassly, so that when you are perfectly glorified, and though there will not be the counting of years as we know them now, if we can speak that way, and you've been in heaven ten billion years, your righteousness will not be, not be one hundredth of a gram heavier and weightier

48:02 in the sight of God than it is the moment you get into Christ by faith. Because perfection can't be improved upon. And we have a perfect righteousness in Jesus Christ. And in the light of that, then surely someone's got to say, let's continue in sin, that grace may abound.

48:26 The question is raised. And what is the answer given? Look at the text. God forbid.

48:33 It's a free translation. It's a strong expression. May genoita. May it never be.

48:42 And when the translators introduce the word God forbid, they do so to try to express the strength of that negative response. May it never be. So what's the central concern of the context of the words of 14b? You are not under law, but under grace.

49:06 Is it the question asked in chapter 3 in verse 31? Look at your Bibles. It's not written on my forehead, it's there in your Bibles. Do we then make the law of none effect through faith?

49:21 God forbid, may we establish the law. Is that the question that precipitated Romans 16, 14b? Do we make void the law of God? No, that's not the question being raised. To which Romans 6.14b is the climactic statement. Is it the question that is raised in chapter 7 and verse 7?

49:46 What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. No, the question, the issue that is the central concern of the context of Romans 6.14b is this question.

50:05 Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? That is the question. That is the issue. It is the relationship between an understanding and a believing appropriation of the gospel of free grace in Christ, justification in Christ alone, received by faith alone, apart from the works of the law.

50:34 And the more sin we have clinging to us when we come to Christ, the more His grace is magnified. And no matter what sin may be in our lives, subsequent to coming to Christ, there is superabounding grace. The question is, shall we continue in sin that we may placard and magnify and extol grace? And the peremptory answer, the blunt, unequivocal answer is, may it never be.

51:06 In other words, in that scheme of salvation, based on Christ alone, received by faith alone, rightly understood, and truly appropriated, will never lead to a loose attitude to committing sin. That's the context. May it never be. You see that?

The Believer's New Identity: Died to Sin

51:33 The context is a flat-out refusal that understanding salvation in Christ alone, received by faith alone, rightly understood and believingly appropriated, will never, never, never lead to indifference to sin. Now, if that's so, you see why it can't lead to indifference to law? What defines sin?

52:02 Law does. Sin is transgression of the law. What defines what is and is not sin? It is the law.

52:13 So to take a passage, the very purpose of which, is to shut forever the door on any thought that salvation in Christ alone, by faith alone, leads to a sloppy attitude to sin, and to use Romans 6.14 is to utterly fly in the face of the very central burden of the context of the whole passage. Do you see that? Have I persuaded your judgment from your own Bible?

52:42 Could you sit down with that Christian friend who's hidden behind this and say, Wait a minute. Let's go back, think our way through. That's the central concern of the context. Now, we'll only have time then to look at the fundamental point made in addressing this central concern.

53:07 Please isolate it, the central concern of the context. It is the devil's logic added to the doctrine of salvation by grace. In Christ alone, received by faith alone, namely, shall we continue in sin that grace may abound, may it never be. That's the central burden of the context.

53:25 Now, what's the fundamental point that Paul makes in addressing that central concern? Well, he makes it in the latter part of verse 2.

53:37 We, who died to sin, how shall we any longer live therein? And in the original, there's a construction, and the use of words which would render this translation a little more emphatic and precise. We who are such as have died to sin, how shall we any longer live therein? We who in our very identity as believers have died to sin, how shall we any longer live therein?

54:17 The fundamental point made in addressing this central concern of the context is that we who belong to Christ, we who have by faith received Christ and in Him have a perfect righteousness before God. We who have been incorporated into Christ by faith, thereby enabling God justly to declare put to that sinner the very account, to his account, the very perfect righteousness of Christ because by faith I see Him now united to my Son.

54:59 He is now in Christ and in Christ I behold Him as I behold my Son. What do I behold in my Son? Perfect righteousness. What do I behold in all who are in Him? Perfect righteousness.

55:15 But all such who have that perfect righteousness in Christ are described, are described in this passage in their fundamental identity as those who have died to sin. We who are such as have died to sin, that is our fundamental identity. You say, Pastor, I don't know what that means. Hold off on what it means.

55:36 I just want to see what it says. Does it say that if we are in Christ and are true believers, we who are such as have died to sin, that is our fundamental identity? Then that...

55:51 That brings a question. If so, how shall we any longer live therein? How shall we live in a realm from which death has removed us?

56:04 You see, I'm alive today. I'm living in God's world here in a little spot of planet Earth called northern New Jersey. It is in this sphere that I carry out my life, where I shoveled my snow and where I pushed or followed behind a snowblower. Where I sprinkled salt to make the walkways safety.

56:28 Where I sat in my study on 25 Meadowbrook Lane and turned on my lights and prayed and poured over my books and over the text and used my Bible and my Greek text and study aids to help to prepare the sermon. That's the world in which I live. That when my wife says, supper's ready, I've already smelled it. One of the disadvantages of having a study in the home at a higher level than the kitchen, and forced hot air.

56:57 You talk about self-control. When you've partially fasted throughout the day because that's the way you have to live to keep from gaining weight, and come 4.30 you begin to get those smells wafting up in your nose and the olfactory nerves pick them up and all sorts of images start registering on the brain. Talk about self-control.

57:17 Studying Greek tenses, preparing for Sunday when... Well, that's the world in which I live, where I salivate.

57:25 And where sometimes I find... The excuse to make an extra trip to the bathroom, well, it's only six more steps downstairs.

57:30 Honey, what you fixing? Smells great. It's always disappointing because it smells better in the study than it does in the kitchen. Somehow the smells get more concentrated up there.

57:39 They dissipate through the kitchen, but up in my study they got nowhere else to go but out through the roof. Well, that's the world in which I live, where I smell foods and I salivate. The world where I pull my books down and open them up and pour over them and pray over them. Where I pull out my study sheets, old used paper that's been discarded.

57:57 From the office here, as a son of the depression in the war years. A pack rat, saves everything. Does all my preliminary study and writing. That's my world!

58:12 Now, what should happen if I died this afternoon? That world would continue to exist in its objective essence. Unless God sends an earthquake, my study will still be there. My Greek texts, my Reinecker and Rogers.

58:29 Thank you for correcting me. All of my study helps would be there. My commentaries that I consulted. Hodge, Murray, Stuart Aliot, Hendrickson.

58:43 They'd all be there. My wife might give up making normal schedule of meals for a bit. But you see, the snow would still be there. That world would all be there.

58:54 But what would my relationship to it be the moment I died? Radical, irreversible separation from that whole realm. I would have died to that realm. And having died, and having heard the announcement, and having gone by the funeral parlor, or had a memorial service in this building.

59:21 If you suddenly saw someone that looked like me and talked like me walking up to your front steps, you'd have some problems. You'd say, that man is dead. I saw him in his coffin. What's he doing alive, walking up my front steps and knocking on my door?

59:38 No, you see, we instinctively recognize that death radically severs us from the realm in which we previously lived. Now look at the text, dear people. What does it say? We who are such as have died to sin.

59:54 Sin likened to a whole universe of moral existence, and activity, and thought, and desire. If we are united to Christ, we have died to sin. That is, we have been fundamentally, radically, irreversibly removed from that realm. Therefore, how shall we any longer live, carry out a lifestyle characterized by moving around in the universe and the world of sin?

60:30 It is utterly impossible. The text does not say sin has died to us. The passage and the context does not say there will be no temptation to sin. He'll go on to talk about not yielding our members instruments of unrighteousness unto sin.

60:50 It doesn't say that we are dying to sin. It says we have died to sin. And therefore, how shall we any longer live, carry out a whole lifestyle, a whole lifestyle that is characterized by sin? It is impossible.

Union with Christ: Facts and Exhortations

61:17 And then what the apostle does, and here's where I give you a homework assignment. I've only gotten through the first three pages of six pages of notes this morning. But this is so crucial that I settle before God. I'm not going to rush through this.

61:30 As you read the remainder of this paragraph, this may help you in your reading. I want you to look for the three basic exhortations that are given in the passage. And then ask yourself on what basis of those exhortations given. And what you will discover is that beginning with verses 3 through verse 10, you don't have one exhortation.

62:00 You don't have one admonition. You have Paul stating facts concerning Christ, His death, His resurrection, and concerning us and in our union with Christ, our death and our resurrection. You study verses 3 through 10 carefully. And the key is the opening words of verse 3, or are you ignorant?

62:26 Are you ignorant? Don't you know who and what you are, Christians, that all of us who were baptized, incorporated into Christ, were incorporated into His death? We were buried therefore with Him through baptism into death. That like as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, even so also we might walk in newness of life.

62:53 For if or since we have become united with Him in the likeness of death, we shall be in the likeness of His resurrection. Knowing this, he's still giving facts to know. No exhortations. Our old man was crucified with Him that the body of sin might be done away.

63:09 So that we should no longer be in bondage to sin. For he that hath died is released from sin. But if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall live with Him, knowing, you see the emphasis again, that Christ being raised from the dead dies no more. Death hath no more dominion over Him.

63:29 The death that He died, He died unto sin once. The life that He lives, He lives unto God. Now only here in verse 11 do we begin an exhortation. Exhortation number one, even so reckon.

63:42 Exhortation number two verse 12, let not sin therefore reign. Exhortation number three verse 13, neither present your members. Go through and study prayerfully the passage seeking to grasp the facts concerning Christ's death and resurrection and your death and resurrection in union with Christ. Study the exhortations and you will see that the whole thrust of the entire paragraph is simply expounding this central issue.

64:16 We who are such as have died to sin has as its climactic affirmation, verse 14, sin shall not exercise lordship over you for you are not under law but under grace. You see the statement, not under law but under grace is the crowning explanation as to why no true believer can continue in sin as a way of life. And when that text is used to take people out of their sense that whether they sin or not is irrelevant

64:59 because they are not under law but under grace. It is an overturning of the very central purpose for which it was made. In its context. For if you are not under law but under grace the proof will be you are living as one who has died to sin.

65:21 Risen to newness of life in union with Jesus Christ and are seeking to work out the implications of that day by day in your struggle with remaining sin and with the world and the influence of the devil. But to be out from under law in this context does not mean out from under the guidance given to my moral judgment concerning what is sinful and what is righteous. It doesn't mean that at all. And when the text is brought in to serve such a horrible notion

66:04 that is resting the scriptures to one's own destruction. And in the providence of God I shall be in California for two Lord's days. This is the first time I will have been away in months from this place. May I urge you in the interim to pray through and pray over this passage perhaps as a communion meditation though I had planned something else.

66:29 I may try to come back to it tonight. I will seek God's face for that. But dear people I've gone into this careful exposition to demonstrate I trust to your understanding and conviction that whatever Romans 6.14 means you're not under law but under grace.

66:49 It is not saying that my conscience should have no continuous burning concern to be educated by the Ten Commandments. Whatever it's saying it ain't saying that. It ain't saying that. And whoever makes it say that whether willfully or out of ignorance is resting the Scriptures.

Under Law or Under Grace: A Call to Decision

67:12 And most often it is in order to find a way to maintain one's profession of being a Christian while still living in the realm of sin. My friend every one of you here this morning is either under law and a slave of sin alive to sin dead to God morally dead spiritually dead and under the wrath of God. If you're under law that's your condition. If you're under grace you're united to Christ.

67:45 You have a perfect righteousness before God. And in that union with Christ you have died to sin as your Master as your Lord as your King. Master kingly where verbs are used as we'll see in the unfolding exposition. You're either under law or under grace this morning.

68:04 If you're under law you're condemned. You're bound to your sins. You're a slave to your sins and God's commandments only gall you to further sin. If you're under grace your sins are pardoned.

68:17 You have a perfect righteousness before God based on the life and death of Jesus Christ received by faith alone. Which are you? Under law? Under grace?

68:32 May God grant that we shall by His Spirit's help come to a greater understanding of these glorious provisions of the Gospel. Let's pray together. Our Father we thank You for this portion of Your Word. Thank You for Your servant Paul.

68:55 Thank You that You changed him from one who hated Your Son and sought to obliterate the very name of Christ from the face of the earth to one who most abundantly magnified the Lord Jesus and the great salvation that He extends to sinners in Himself. And we pray that You would take our study this morning as raggedly as we have had to bring it to a close and help Your dear people to be so established in the truth of this portion of the Word that never again would their own consciences ever play tricks on them with these words not under law but under grace. And may they be enabled to give a good

69:39 clear reasoned explanation for the hope that is in them as to why they make conscience of seeking to receive light from the Decalogue as to their path of duty. Seal Your Word, we pray. Have mercy upon those that are still under law, under condemnation, under a galling, prodding influence of the commandments who know nothing of peace of conscience through the blood of the cross, who know nothing of what it is to delight in Your law from a new and renewed heart. O God, may they this day come under grace.

70:16 O God, may the sheer simplicity and beauty of a salvation in Christ alone received by faith alone. O Holy Spirit, break down every barrier of pride and human wisdom and bring them to embrace Christ crucified, that He will become to them the wisdom and the power of You, our God. Seal, then, Your Word, we plead, and bring eternal life to them. Amen.

70:42 Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.

70:46 Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.

70:50 Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.

70:54 Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.

70:58 Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.

71:02 Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.

71:06 Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.

71:10 Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.