Sin will not master you

 

For sin will have no mastery over you, because you are not under law but under grace. (Ro 6:14)

The book of Romans is deeply profound, and often hard to understand.  One of the more puzzling sections are chapters 6-8.  Paul seems to be saying two things at the same time.  On the one hand, in chapter 6, he tells us we have a new capacity to resist sin.  On the other hand, in chapter 7 he paints a vivid picture of enslavement to sin. 

 For we know that the law is spiritual—but I am unspiritual, sold into slavery to sin. For I don’t understand what I am doing. For I do not do what I want—instead, I do what I hate. (Ro 7:14-15)

The casual reader may wonder, "Which is it?”  Let’s look at it carefully…

 Leading up to chapter 6 he clearly shows that all have sinned, and we are saved through the redemption in Christ.

 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. But they are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. (Ro 3:23-24)

 Our salvation is not through the works of the law, but by grace through faith.

But to the one who does not work, but believes in the one who declares the ungodly righteous, his faith is credited as righteousness. (Ro 4:5)

 For the righteousness of God is revealed in the gospel from faith to faith, just as it is written, “The righteous by faith will live.” (Ro 1:17)

 In Romans 6-8 Paul is showing that our salvation includes much more than freedom from the PENALTY of sin.  It also includes freedom from the POWER of sin.

So how do we find freedom from the POWER of sin? 

Through union with Christ.  As believers in Christ, we now are IDENTIFIED with Christ.

 Or do you not know that as many as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? Therefore we have been buried with him through baptism into death, in order that just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too may live a new life. For if we have become united with him in the likeness of his death, we will certainly also be united in the likeness of his resurrection. We know that our old man was crucified with him so that the body of sin would no longer dominate us, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. (For someone who has died has been freed from sin.) (Ro 6:3-7)

So, once Paul establishes the fact of our union with Christ and our new identity, why digress to chapter 7 and the struggle with sin?  It is because of the Law.  To the Jewish convert, the Mosaic Law with the moral code and the Ten Commandments loomed large in their experience.  And to the Gentile believer, like you and me, there is a moral code that God has built into our heart and mind. 

 For whenever the Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature the things required by the law, these who do not have the law are a law to themselves. They show that the work of the law is written in their hearts, as their conscience bears witness and their conflicting thoughts accuse or else defend them, (Ro 2:14-15)

Both Jews and Gentiles can be susceptible to the law.  Not that the law is bad in any way, just that our sinful hearts often respond to the law improperly.  We attempt to justify ourselves by proving that we can live up to it.  And we always fail miserably.

Now we know that whatever the Law says, it speaks to those who are under the Law, so that every mouth may be closed and all the world may become accountable to God; because by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight; for through the Law comes the knowledge of sin. (Ro 3:19-20)

 I believe this may be why the Holy Spirit had Paul insert chapter 7 before chapter 8.  Even though the believer is a new person in Christ, with a new power to resist sin and walk in newness of life, we can still be vulnerable to the flesh which reacts to the Law and seeks to justify itself.

For when we were in the flesh, the sinful desires, aroused by the law, were active in the members of our body to bear fruit for death. (Ro 7:5)

 That is why Romans chapter 8 is so important for us …

 There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the life-giving Spirit in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death. For God achieved what the law could not do because it was weakened through the flesh. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and concerning sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, so that the righteous requirement of the law may be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. (Ro 8:1-4)

 The new life in the Spirit is the solution to our struggle with sin.  We deeply appreciate the forgiveness we have found in Christ and the grace He has extended.  He loves us and we have a heartfelt desire to love Him back. As a believer in Christ, we have a new conscience which is far superior to our old one.  Previously we had a basic sense of good and bad, and we knew that we were often bad.  Now we have a higher capacity to recognize true righteousness with a desire to please God.   So HOW do we do this?  By walking in the power of the Spirit. And how do we do that?  BY FAITH.

Watch how Paul describes walking in the Spirit in Romans chapter 8…

For those who live according to the flesh have their outlook shaped by the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit have their outlook shaped by the things of the Spirit. For the outlook of the flesh is death, but the outlook of the Spirit is life and peace, (Ro 8:5-6)

I think this means that as we exercise faith and trust in what God says about us, about our new identity in Christ, this is how we "have our outlook shaped by the things of the Spirit".  When we trust that Christ's salvation is sufficient for our daily walk, we will then experience the realities of our new life in Christ.  These truths about our death, burial, and resurrection to new life are true whether we believe them or not.  But they only become true in our experience when they are mixed with faith. That may be why chapter 7 shows so much misery and defeat, The person there is seeking to justify themselves by fulfilling the law and failing.  They are focused on self rather than Christ.  They are living by the flesh, not the Spirit.

But I say, live by the Spirit and you will not carry out the desires of the flesh. For the flesh has desires that are opposed to the Spirit, and the Spirit has desires that are opposed to the flesh, for these are in opposition to each other, so that you cannot do what you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. (Gal 5:16-18)

These things often take time to truly understand and apply.  It is important to meditate on them and pray over them.  For further study… 

1. Read Romans 6-8 several times.  Read these sections in one sitting if possible.
2. Read Galatians 5:16-26 for an understanding of the fruit of the Spirit.
3. Read also John 14-17.  Consider the role of the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer.
4. God bless you!

 

All passages in this post were taken from The NET Bible (Biblical Studies Press, 2005).