Grace And Sin · Dead To Sin · Baptism And "Newness Of Life" · Service And Masters · Godliness · Spiritual Adulterers · Incentives To Holiness · Standards · Morality Is Unchangeable · Discerning Good And Evil · Church Discipline
The relation to sin of those who are justified is a most important consideration. It was discussed enthusiastically in the days of the apostles. It has never ceased to be a living issue. The following discussion of the question will reveal the fact that sanctification is as much a part of God's plan to save man as is justification. Indeed, justification implies sanctification rather than furnishing an excuse for sin. God's method of saving man by grace, however, has been offered as an excuse for sin. And here let us note the relation between
Because man is saved by grace through faith, not of works, some have concluded that sin in Christians is excusable. Paul in the Roman letter reveals Christ as man's sin bearer. He shows how God saves man upon the principle of faith in Christ, and not upon the principle of works. In closing his argument on Christ and Adam (Rom. 5:20) the apostle writes:
Where sin abounded, grace did abound more exceedingly.
It appears that some perverted this statement to mean more sin, more grace. Hence, the apostle immediately adds:
What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? (Rom. 6:1.)
The question is quickly answered by the apostle in a way that reveals its absurdity:
God forbid. We who died to sin, how shall we any longer live therein? (Rom. 6:2.)
The relation of grace and sin is here definitely and significantly settled for all time. Grace does not encourage sin. Instead, it is the only method of salvation that conquers sin. We have seen that the prohibitions of the law revived lust and left man a victim of sin, crying for deliverance. Not so with grace. As grace saves, it provides for a life of holiness. This is necessary. What permanent good would justification do if it left man a helpless victim under the bondage of sin? Justification is much more than the mere forgiveness of sin. It introduces one into a new life, a new state. Accompanying forgiveness of sin is the crucifixion of the "old man," or the "law of sin," and the giving of a new principle of life, "the law of the Spirit," the fruit of which is "love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, meekness, self-control." Hence, the apostle asserts that the Christian is
The apostle does not simply say that the Christian shall not live in sin, but gives the reason why this shall not be. And let us note the reason for not continuing in sin is to be found in the Christian himself. He shall not continue in sin because he is dead to sin.
We who died to sin, how shall we any longer live therein?
There is only one certain way to insure holiness in man--namely, to crucify the "old man," the source of sin. Divine prohibitions and human will power proved futile under the law. The law was "weak through the flesh"--that is, the law did not provide for the killing of the "law of sin" in man that led him into sin. But grace takes away this "law of sin and of death" and substitutes the "law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus" that frees him from the bondage of sin. Herein is one of the chief excellencies of Christianity. Grace does not simply bind on man a new set of obligations and expect him of his own strength to meet them. This would but seal his condemnation. Instead, justification through Jesus Christ provides a basis of righteousness. First lust is crucified, and then the Holy Spirit is given to help in his fight against sin. Read about the eternal conflict between the Holy Spirit in the Christian and lust:
But I say, Walk by the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are contrary the one to the other. (Gal. 5:16, 17.)
Here the Holy Spirit is said to be "contrary" to the lust of the flesh. Hence, it is by the Spirit that the Christian is able to live righteously. This accords with Paul's statement to the Romans:
So then, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh: for if ye live after the flesh, ye must die; but if by the Spirit ye put to death the deeds of the body, ye shall live. (Rom. 8:12, 13.)
Here, then, is the basis of a life of righteousness. Lust is killed to the extent that man by the assistance of the indwelling Spirit can live a holy life. Under law, man did not have the help of the Holy Spirit, and was, therefore, a victim of the lust of the flesh. The apostle in many places associates law and sin, and freedom from sin implies first freedom from law. Note these parallel passages:
Walk by the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. (Gal. 5:16.)
But if ye are led by the Spirit, ye are not under the law. (Verse 18.)
It is plain from these passages that to be under law is to be dominated by the flesh--not that the law was sin, but
when we were in the flesh, the sinful passions, which were through the law, wrought in our members to bring forth fruit unto death. (Rom. 7:5.)
What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Howbeit, I had not known sin, except through the law: for I had not known coveting, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet: but sin, finding occasion, wrought in me through the commandment all manner of coveting: for apart from the law sin is dead. And I was alive apart from the law once: but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died. (Rom. 7:7-9.)
It was impossible for man to die to sin under law that revived lust. But what advantage has the Christian? Do the prohibitions of grace revive lust? For example, coveting is condemned under grace the same as under law. Now, when the Christian is forbidden to covet, does the prohibition work in him "all manner of coveting"? If so, what advantage is grace, and how does Christianity bring freedom from the practice of sin? Sin is not revived by the commandments of grace, and the Christian has a very great advantage. Under Christ, as we have seen, lust is killed, the "old man" is crucified, "the law of sin" is supplanted by "the law [principle] of the Spirit." In short, the Christian is a "new creature," with a new principle of life, and, consequently, possessing new love.
And they that are of Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with the passions and the lusts thereof. (Gal. 5:24.)
Knowing this, that our old man was crucified with him, that the body of sin might be done away, that so we should no longer be in bondage to sin. (Rom. 6:6.)
Even so reckon ye also yourselves to be dead unto sin, but alive unto God in Christ Jesus. . . . For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under law, but under grace. (Rom, 6:11, 14.)
There is therefore now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus made me free from the law of sin and of death. . . . For they that are after the flesh mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit. . . . But ye are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you. (Rom. 8:1, 2, 5, 9.)
Wherefore if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature: the old things are passed away; behold, they are become new. (2 Cor. 5:17.)
The Christian is not driven like a slave, but led like a son. He serves God not through fear, but through love. He lives righteously because he hates sin and loves righteousness--that is, he does right because he wants to do right. And he wants to do right because he is a "new creature." Righteousness is as natural to the Christian as sin is to the unsaved. The Christian is a free man under Christ.
Grace, then, furnishes no encouragement to sin. It alone provides for a life of righteousness possible to man. The prophet Isaiah spoke of Christianity as "the way of holiness," and added: "The unclean shall not pass over it." Remember that in justifying the sinner God provides for a death to sin. This death to sin is the basis of righteousness.
That holiness of life is required of the Christian is proclaimed by baptism.
What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. We who died to sin, how shall we any longer live therein? Or are ye ignorant that all we who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized 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, so we also might walk in newness of life. For if we have become united with him in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection; knowing this, that our old man was crucified with him, that the body of sin might be done away, that so we should no longer be in bondage to sin; for he that hath died is justified from sin. But if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him; knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death no more hath dominion over him. For the death that he died, he died unto sin once: but the life that he liveth, he liveth unto God. Even so reckon ye also yourselves to be dead unto sin, but alive unto God in Christ Jesus. (Rom. 6:1-11.)
There is perhaps no stronger argument against sin in the Bible than the apostle makes in the above language. The statement is first made that "we . . . died to sin." Then he proceeds to call attention to the symbolic meaning of baptism into Christ. Baptism, he said, relates to Christ's death and pictures our death to sin. (The apostle is not here discussing the forgiveness of our sins. This thought is foreign to his purpose. Not God's attitude toward sin or sinners, but our own relation to the practice of sin, is being discussed.) Now, just as Christ died with reference to sin once, and only once, and, being raised from the dead, ever lives unto God, so we, having died unto sin, are raised in our baptism to live unto God, to "walk in newness of life." The apostle means to say that our resurrection in baptism signifies a renunciation of sin and an entrance upon a new life of righteousness. It would be as inconsistent for Christ to die again and to cease to live unto God, live for God's glory, as it would for the Christian to continue to live in sin. Christ's death was for the purpose of destroying sin, and our baptism into his death united us with this purpose. Hence, to continue to live in sin would be to ignore the meaning of our baptism. As there are two parts to baptism, so are there two things signified by it. The immersion or burial in baptism signifies our death to sin, while the emersion or resurrection signifies our being made alive unto righteousness. Verse 4 makes both the burial and resurrection significant. The apostle, hurrying on to the conclusion, mixes the figure with its application. After asserting that we were buried with Christ into death, we would very naturally expect Paul to say that we were raised with Christ unto life; but this he says in verse 8:
If we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him.
We died to sin and pictured this death in the burial of baptism. Just so we were made alive unto righteousness and pictured this resurrection by the emersion of baptism. This is the death and life referred to in the above verse. No reference is made to a future life in heaven, as is seen by the following verse:
Even so reckon ye also yourselves to be dead unto sin, but alive unto God in Christ Jesus.
That is, we should now reckon ourselves dead to sin and alive to righteousness. And unless one so reckons himself, he was not really united with Christ in baptism--that is he was not really baptized. He was neither buried nor raised with Christ.
Seeing that one dies to sin before his baptism, some have thought to present a difficulty for those who connect baptism "in the name of Jesus Christ" with the forgiveness of sins. (And remember that death to sin implies also a resurrection to righteousness.) The question is sometimes asked whether in baptism a dead or live man is buried. Such querists overlook the fact that Paul makes the burial of baptism signify one thing and the resurrection another. The burial symbolizes death--death to sin; while the resurrection symbolizes life--a life to righteousness. The burial very naturally does not refer to a resurrection to righteousness, just as the resurrection does not relate to death to sin. One who has repented can be described two ways. It can be said he is one who has died to sin or one who has been made alive to righteousness. If we are thinking of him in his relation to sin, we say he was "buried" with Christ in baptism; if we contemplate him with reference to righteousness, we say he was "raised" with Christ in baptism. The dead man--dead to sin--is not "raised." Neither is the live man--alive to righteousness--"buried." Of course the man dead to sin and alive to righteousness is the same individual, and he is dead and alive at the same moment; but his death relates to sin, just as his life relates to righteousness. Hence. the burial of baptism concerns our death to sin, and the resurrection relates to our life to righteousness. This is why the apostle wrote that we are "buried . . . into death," and "raised . . . so we also might walk in newness of life."
Paul next shows that because one is under grace and not law he is not excusable for continuing in sin upon the ground of a recognized principle that service determines who is master. If one serves sin, sin becomes the master and the sinner a servant. This rule holds good even under grace, because it is no arbitrary rule.
What then? shall we sin, because we are not under law, but under grace? God forbid. Know ye not, that to whom ye present Yourselves as servants unto obedience, his servants ye are whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness? But thanks be to God, that, whereas ye were servants of sin, ye became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching whereunto ye were delivered; and being made free from sin, ye became servants of righteousness. . . . But now being made free from sin and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto sanctification, and the end eternal life. (Rom. 6:15-18, 22.)
Grace does not conflict with natural principles. For this reason it does not tolerate sin. If A serves B, he is B's servant, regardless of consequences. If B represents sin, then A is a servant of sin. If, on the other hand, B represents righteousness, A becomes a servant of righteousness. If it were otherwise, grace would shield one in sin rather than save one from sin. Hence, let not the Christian think that he can sin with impunity.
Verse 17, quoted above, deserves special mention. Referring to the exchange of masters which took place at the conversion of the Roman Christians, Paul bases a change also of service upon the fact that a change of masters was accompanied, if not effected, by a whole-hearted obedience to the gospel. The gospel--Christ's death, burial, and resurrection for the purpose of destroying sin--is represented as a mold into which one is put and comes out made in the image of Christ. Thus the gospel possesses a mighty moral influence for good. The whole heart is affected in conversion. One's attitude toward sin and righteousness is reversed. He is really "born again," and thus becomes a "new creature."
After these unanswerable arguments are made, the apostle adds another:
For the wages of sin is death; but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Rom. 6:23.)
Not only does service determine masters, but masters, in turn, determine wages. Sin, as a master, cannot reward with life. His reward must be compatible with himself. He can give only death. And the master must pay the wages. If A serves B, C is under no obligation to A. A must look to his master, B, for wages. Not even the Christian under grace can evade this universal and natural principle. "The wages of sin is death" was written to Christians to discourage sin on their part. Beware of sin!
Paul's discussion of the relation of grace and sin in his Epistle to the Romans agrees with his reference to the same matter in Tit. 2:11, 12:
For the grace of God hath appeared, bringing salvation to all men, instructing us, to the intent that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly and righteously and godly in this present world.
Man is saved by grace. Yet the grace that brings salvation instructs us to deny sin. Hence, salvation from sin signifies salvation from the love and practice of it as surely as it means freedom from its guilt. And it is as much the obligation of the Christian to "deny ungodliness and worldly lust" as it was his duty as a sinner to repent. God never contemplated a salvation that accompanies a life of sin. This is why a child of God who goes back into sin will be lost unless he repents.
The basis of all obligations to be holy is God. Just as God is, so is man under obligation to be. But God is holy. Hence, man, the creature of God, should be holy; and, in addition to the obligation to be holy, based on the fact of generation, man is under a still more serious obligation, if possible, based upon the fact of his regeneration. The child of God is "born of God"--that is, God is his spiritual Father. Salvation is of God; hence, the son is supposed to be like his Father. Hear the apostle Peter:
As children of obedience, not fashioning yourselves according to your former lusts in the time of your ignorance: but like as he who called you is holy, be ye yourselves also holy in all manner of living; because it is written, Ye shall be holy; for I am holy. (1 Pet. 1:14-16.)
Children of God are as naturally holy as children of the devil are naturally unholy: and an unholy child of God is as absurd as a holy child of the devil--not that a child of God cannot sin in the sense of committing an occasional transgression. The best of God's children will sin occasionally. But sin will be the exception and not the rule. Sin must not "reign" in our bodies.
Man naturally becomes like the object of his worship. This, partly at least, accounts for the sin of idolaters. Holiness was not attributed to idol gods. They were charged with every sin of which the most ungodly men are guilty. Hence, idolatry is always accompanied by sin. The extreme sin of the Corinthians is hereby accounted for. And the unusual tendency of the Corinthian Christians to lapse into sin again was the call of idolatry. It is notable that the besetting sin of the Corinthian church--the sin of immorality--is the characteristic sin of idolaters. Worship of the true God, then, induces holiness. Indeed, fellowship with God is impossible while one serves sin.
Adultery is the breaking of the marriage vow. Christians are united or married to God. The marriage vow to God is broken by sin. Hence, sin is spiritual adultery.
Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and covet, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war; ye have not, because ye ask not. Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may spend it in your pleasures. Ye adulteresses [who break your marriage vow to God--margin], know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? Whosoever therefore would be a friend of the world maketh himself an enemy of God. (James 4:2-4.)
Sin, because it is sin, means enmity to God, the source of righteousness. Hence, sin in even the Christian cannot be tolerated. The marriage vow can no more be held sacred by the adulterer than can man's covenant with God by the man who lives in sin. It is time the church thoroughly understood that man's relation to God is determined by his relation to sin and righteousness. Sin cannot be respectable. It means spiritual adultery. And spiritual adultery cannot possibly be a less grievous sin than literal adultery. The respectable man or woman should stay free of sin for the same reason that they respect their marriage vow. Nothing good can be said of sin. It is of the devil, and the sinner is a child of the devil regardless of his religious profession. Just as the expression "children of God" signifies "heirs of God," the heir of the devil is a child of the devil. This is so because God will divorce the person guilty of spiritual adultery. Remember, sin breaks your marriage vow to God!
Self-respect will cause one to shun sin. No self-respecting man will lie or steal, for example. But all sins are related. All sins belong to the same disreputable family. Hence, a proper regard for one's best interest and honor will lead one to live righteously. Sin means disrespect for God. And no creature can properly respect himself and be guilty of that which dishonors his Creator.
It has just been said that sin means disrespect for God. Sin is ungodliness. The transgression of the law that results in sin is not only God's law, but laws that are expressions of divine character. Hence, sin is opposition to God. Sin is discourtesy toward Jehovah. Proper respect for God, therefore, is one of the very strongest inducements to holiness.
The recognition of the indwelling Holy Spirit is also a strong incentive to holiness. The Corinthian church was guilty of immorality--a sin that in a special way dishonors the body. Hear the apostle Paul:
Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body. Or know ye not that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit which is in you, which ye have from God? and ye are not your own; for ye were bought with a price: glorify God therefore in your body. (1 Cor. 6:18-20.)
Know ye not that ye are a temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? If any man destroyeth the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, and such are ye. (1 Cor. 3:16, 17.)
The Holy Spirit is a possession peculiar to sons of God. (Gal. 4:6.) He is a seal of God's ownership. (Eph. 1:13, 14.) The presence of the Holy Spirit naturally demands a holy dwelling place. But the Christian's body is a temple of the Holy Spirit. Hence, our bodies should be kept clean. (Of course, those who deny the indwelling of the Holy Spirit must miss much of the force of the apostle's language. Logically, they miss it all.)
Not only is the Christian's body the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit, it is at the same time a member of Christ.
Know ye not that your bodies are members of Christ? shall I then take away the members of Christ, and make them members of a harlot? God forbid. Or know ye not that he that is joined to a harlot is one body? for, The twain, saith he, shall become one flesh. But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit. (1 Cor. 6:15-17.)
Adultery on the part of the Christian results in the repulsive and blasphemous sin of joining Christ to a harlot! To remember, then. that our bodies are members of Christ will encourage us to "abhor that which is evil and cleave unto that which is good."
The Christian's hope is likewise a stimulus to holy living.
Beloved, now are we children of God, and it is not yet made manifest what we shall be. We know that, if he shall he manifested, we shall be like him; for we shall see him even as he is. And every one that hath this hope set on him purifieth himself, even as he is pure. (1 John 3:2, 3.)
A genuine desire and expectation to reach a certain state or position enables one to anticipate his experiences when he shall have realized his hope. Thus a president-elect feels the honor and dignity of a president in fact. But the Christian desires and expects to see God and be like him. This hope, if real, transforms him into God's likeness.
But we all, with unveiled face beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are transformed into the same image from glory to glory, even as from the Lord the Spirit. (2 Cor. 3:18.)
Thus in one way, at least, hope becomes the Christian's anchor. Hope looks beyond this state into the heavenly realm, where we shall be like God, and anchors us to the eternal Rock. Since hope and godliness imply each other, no sinner can have hope, just as those without hope have no real inducement to holiness.
Though the apostle does not mention it, I am sure that hope not only of being like God, but of enjoying the bliss of heaven, is also purifying. The joys of heaven will have no connection whatever with sin. The lust of the flesh will have no place in that land "wherein dwelleth righteousness." Both soul and body will be completely redeemed from the pollution of sin, Perhaps few considerations have such a transforming power as meditations of heaven. How vain and empty appear the pleasures of sin in comparison! All become "vanity and a striving after the wind." The pleasures of lust are ephemeral and wasting, but the joys of heaven refresh the soul for evermore. How blessed the thought! Some day the soul can dwell apart from sin and its ruinous influences and be at rest.
A great many people appear confused on the matter of right and wrong from the moral viewpoint. "What is right?" and "What is morality?" we hear them asking. With some people morality is as changeable as customs. Hence, old-established standards of right living are being discarded as obsolete. For example, freedom among the sexes, intolerable a few years ago, is now being winked at.
Customs may come and go, but real morality remains constant. This is true because the moral law has as its basis God himself. Moral legislation found in the Bible is an expression of God's character. It follows that moral laws cannot change without first a change in the character of God. Man can no more change moral laws than he can dispose of the law of gravitation. He may ignore them, but change them he cannot.
For example, God is truth. God cannot lie. Lying, then, being contrary to God, is sin. Custom cannot make it right to lie. God, who cannot lie, can never say less than:
Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor. (Ex. 20:16.)
Lie not one to another; seeing that ye have put off the old man with his doings. (Col. 3:9.)
God's attitude toward lying has never changed. It cannot change till God himself changes. This principle holds with respect to all moral laws. Moral standards based upon God's word must be respected. Until man outgrows God he needs no new moral code.
Who is it, anyway, that is crying for a change of moral standard? He that desires greater freedom in satisfying his own lust. Those who have the welfare of humanity at heart are perfectly satisfied with the moral standard of the Bible.
No one, therefore, who professes to be a Christian can afford to take advantage of public sentiment to live after the flesh. Friendship of the world here most assuredly means enmity with God. "Be not conformed to this world," wrote Paul. This exhortation is as binding as repentance. True religion cannot be divorced from clean living.
With good and evil continually about us, it becomes necessary to distinguish between them. The issue is so great one cannot afford to make a mistake.
Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness: that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! (Isa. 5:20.)
Some appear not to be able to see any harm in anything. They can see no harm in the dance, the bridge club, the public bathing pool, and a hundred other things of similar nature. They assert that they can engage in such activities without hurt. Instead of this attitude signifying growth in the Lord, it is, without doubt, an indication of worldliness and immaturity.
But solid food is for fullgrown men, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern good and evil. (Heb. 5:14.)
A quickened conscience is a better indication of spiritual development than the inability to see any harm in some very harmful things. Many of the things that church members enjoy are enjoyed by sinners, as such. For example, the greatest sinner in the community would get real enjoyment from the activities mentioned above. It is a safe rule that what sinners, as such, enjoy, Christians should shun. And, again, what can be done to the glory of God is right, and what cannot be done to his glory is safe to let alone.
Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God. (1 Cor. 10:31.)
The Christian sincerely seeking the Lord's glory and his own spiritual good will have little trouble in seeing a lot of evil in many so-called "harmless" exercises. But the worldly-minded church member will become so impregnable that he can go through the fires without being burned--if we are willing to take his word for it!
Church discipline is practically obsolete. The church has become a city of refuge for all kinds of sinners. In the fellowship of churches can be found drunkards, adulterers, and dishonest people. When such conditions exist, the whole church and those not Christians are aware of it. These sinners do not so much as try to hide their ungodliness in many cases. They are open in their challenge to the church.
God's word is so plain on matters of discipline that it is not considered necessary to give this teaching here. There is positively no excuse for the prevailing laxity in church discipline. The church that permits the ungodly to remain within its fellowship becomes a party to the sin themselves. They are in open rebellion against God. God tells the sinner to repent, and the impenitent person is a rebel against God. God as positively demands that the wicked man be put away (1 Cor. 5:13) as he does that sinners repent. A lack of difference between many members of the church and sinners is a stumbling stone over which many fall. The church is responsible for these things. Church discipline is today one of Christianity's greatest needs. Let us not ignore God's word.