02 MSG 34 (3-2) Life Study of Romans

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Day 3 30/10/2024 (3-2)

Scripture Reading: Rom. 6:6-7:18 & Footnotes


Pray Reading Verse: Rom. 6:11
“ So also you, reckon yourselves to be dead to sin, but
living to God in Christ Jesus.”

PUT INTO CHRIST


Romans 5:19 says, “Through the disobedience of one man
the many were constituted sinners.” You may think that
because you are saved, you are no longer a sinner. In a sense, I
agree with you. Nevertheless, we still have the sinful element
of our old constitution. We are sinners constituted with sin. We
are not sinners because we have sinned. No, we are sinners
because we have been constituted with sin. Even before you
were born, you were already a sinner. Whether we are good or
evil, we have all been constituted sinners.
Romans 6:3 says that we “have been baptized into Christ
Jesus.” This means that we have been put into Christ. We were
born in Adam, but we have been put into Christ. We were born
in the realm, sphere, and element of Adam, but we have been
transferred into the realm, sphere, and element of Christ. This
is a fact, and it does not depend upon our feelings. When I say
that you were born in Adam, you may reply, “I don’t feel like I
was born in Adam.” Whether you feel it or not, it is a fact
nonetheless. For example, it is a fact that I am in the United
States, although I may feel like I am in Taiwan. By this we can
see that our feeling may be a lie. I may feel like I am a king,
but I am actually a small man. I may feel that I am very good,
but actually I may be very poor. Regarding the spiritual facts,
we should not depend on our feelings.
In Romans 6 there is the fact that we have all been put into
Christ. Are you now in Christ? Some may answer, “It may be
that I am in Christ, but I don’t feel that I am in Christ. How can
I say that I am in Christ when I lost my temper just an hour ago?
If my behavior was that poor an hour ago, how can I be in
Christ now?” But based upon the fact in Romans 6, we must
declare, “Amen, I am in Christ!” In Romans 6 we have the fact
that we have been put into Christ. Whether we like it or not,
and whether we feel it or not, does not matter. The fact remains
the fact. We are in Christ.
OUR OLD MAN HAVING BEEN CRUCIFIED
WITH CHRIST
Romans 6:6 says, “Knowing this, that our old man has been
crucified with Him that the body of sin might be made of none
effect, that we should no longer serve sin as slaves.” Through
the death of Christ, our old man has been terminated. He has
even had a funeral. Do you know that our old man was
crucified with Christ and buried? If we believe that we are in
Christ, then we must also believe that our old man has been
crucified with Him. Whether or not we feel that this is so, it is a
fact that our old man is dead and buried. Therefore, Paul says,
“Knowing this, that our old man has been crucified with Him.”
In Christ, our old man has been put away.
THE BODY OF SIN BEING MADE OF NONE
EFFECT
Since our old man has been crucified and buried, “the body
of sin” has been “made of none effect” (6:6). Because of the
fall, our body is a body of sin. As such a fallen body, it is good
only for committing sins. In this body there is nothing but sin.
Therefore, in 7:19 and 20 Paul says, “For the good which I will,
I do not; but the evil I do not will, this I practice. But if what I
do not will, this I do, it is no longer I that do it but sin that
dwells in me.” The sin dwelling in our body makes it “the body
of sin.” However tired we may be, our body is very active
when there is opportunity for sinning. For example, some
people may gamble for three days and nights without sleeping
or eating properly. But not one employee could work for
seventy-two hours without sleeping. On the contrary, an
employee would complain if he were compelled to do this. But
no one at a gambling table complains of tiredness, for everyone
is full of energy because the body is a body of sin. I have never
heard a gambler say that he was tired and wanted to go home.
Even if a man’s wife would plead for him to come home, he
would stay at the gambling table for several more hours. This
indicates that the body is never tired of sinning, although it
may easily tire of other things. When parents charge their
children to do their homework, the children often say, “Oh, I’m
too tired. Besides, I am not feeling well.” But when it comes to
doing something sinful, the body is full of energy.
Because our old man has been buried with Christ, the body
of sin has lost its job. It has become of none effect because the
sinning person, the old man, has been crucified. The body is
not the sinning person; it is the sinning instrument, the means
by which a person does sinful things. But now that the person
has been buried, the body of sin is unemployed. This means
that we are freed from sin. Since our old man has been
crucified and buried with Christ, we are freed from sin. This is
the main point of Romans 6.
THE PROBLEM OF THE LAW
At the time of the fall, sin came into man. However, man did
not realize how sinful he was. This made it necessary for God
to give man the law that man’s sinfulness might be exposed.
Although the law should not have been a problem, it
nevertheless became a problem. God’s intention in giving man
the law was to expose him and to convince him of his
sinfulness. But even though man was exposed by the
requirements of the law, he still refused to admit that he was
sinful. Instead, he used the law in an improper way, as if to say,
“The law is excellent. I’ll fulfill all its requirements.” God’s
intention was to use the law to expose man, but man thought
that he could keep the law. Nevertheless, God’s purpose in
giving the law has been fulfilled. The more man tried to keep
the law, the more he broke it; and the more he broke the law,
the more he was exposed. Therefore, we have not only the
problem of sin, but also the problem of the law.
As we have seen, the problem of sin is solved in Romans 6.
But how can the problem of the law be solved? In Romans 7
we have the way to be freed from the law. The way to be
released from the law, like the way to be freed from sin, is
through the death of the old man. In chapter six, our old man is
the sinning person, but in chapter seven our old man is the self-
assuming husband. The old man should not have been the
husband; rather, he should have been the wife. The old man,
however, has not kept his position, but has assumed the
position of the husband. Praise the Lord that the old man as the
sinning person and as the self-assuming husband has been
crucified and buried! Now we are freed from sin and from the
law. This covers the first part of Romans 7.

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