Romans 6:1-11

      In my study in the books of Romans, I have come to Romans 6:-11.  Paul begins in verses 1-2 with a rhetorical question "Should we sin more that grace might increase?"  This is apparently what some have accused Paul and Christians of teaching.  Paul gives the reason of why we must live a different way by explaining that since the believer has died with Christ then they have become a new person.
      The idea of death and resurrection and new life is prominent in this passage.  Before we were slaves of sin and unable to please God by our own actions.  Now, Paul says that we have been baptized or immersed in His death.  We are according to verse 4, to walk in newness of life.  The word newness is kainotes which means a new state of life in which the Holy Spirit places in us to produce a new person.
      There are a number of passages which talk about the  newness of life that God calls the believer to.  In Galatians 5:19-24, Paul compares the deeds of the flesh to those of the spirit.  Paul concludes this section with the words "Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires."  This is also repeated in verses such as Galatians 2:20; 5:24; Col 3:9,10; 1 Peter 2:24; Romans 4:25 and Galatians 5:13.
     Paul sees us as a slave to either sin or righteousness.  This is the choice that we now have.  We can cloth ourselves in the new man and renew our minds in truth.  Or the believer can still walk according to the old man and live a life that is in rebellion to the new life he gives us.  That is implied by the command to "put on" the new man.  We have a choice each day about what we are enslaved to, unlike when we were lost and had no choice about it.
    The irony is that even though we are always slaves to something, either righteousness or sin, we are never truly free until we are in Christ.  We are free in the sense that we are doing and living for the purpose of which we were created.  This is what led Jesus to say in John 8:31-32 "Jesus therefore was saying to those Jews who had believed in Him, "If you abide in My Word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."
     Paul concludes this section in Romans 6:11 by saying, "Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus."  This is what Paul considered himself everyday, as dead to the old man and nature and alive to God.  It was Christ living through Him to accomplish his will.  He was not denying that there was an old nature, but he was surrendering that old nature and putting on the new nature.  This is the battle of the believer each day, something that Paul will go into more detail as we go into Romans 6 and 7.

The futility of trying to be "good enough"

    On my own, I have been studying the book of Romans over the last few weeks.  It seems to me that the emphasis in chapters 1 is mainly towards the Gentiles.  There was a large Gentile church in Romans that Paul wanted to speak to.  He told them in no uncertain terms that they had all fallen short of the glory of God.  In chapter 2, the emphasis shifts slightly to Jewish christians.  He reminds them that "there is no partiality with God." verse 11.  This means that even though in their ancestory they had the law and the prophets God does not play favorites.
    There is also at the same time a common thread of Paul emphasizing that while all the law did was make us more aware of our sin it doesn't lead to righteousness.  In Romans 1:17 Paul says, "But the righteous man shall live by faith."  Which is a very important verse that Martin Luther is known to have noticed and led to his leading the Protestant reformation.  Paul goes on to say in Romans 3:21-22 "But now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets, even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe, for there is no distinction."  In other words, there is no difference between people groups.
      Paul has gone on and on for three chapters declaring over and over what he says again in Romans 3:23 'for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God."  By falling short, it means to miss the mark.  Paul was even more graphic in chapter 3:10-11 where he points out that nobody is righteous in God's sight, none of us understands or seeks God on our own.  It is an utterly desperate situation that mankind is in apart from God's grace.  And that is what many people don't really understand.  The pride of the flesh is that we think we are somehow good enough.  We underestimate the goodness and holiiness of God and overestimate our own goodness.
     This also speaks about the absolute inability for us to be good on our own effort or skill.  There is not just something wrong with our actions, but also our heart.  It is not just our thoughts, but our motivations behind the thoughts.  It is an utter depravity of the human mind and will apart from God. It leads Paul to say later in Romans 8:8 "those who are in the flesh cannot please God."  If we grasp these verses, it makes us realize that there is no place for pride in ourselves in God's eyes.
      So, it is not a matter of trying harder.  It is a matter of being a disciple of Jesus and following Him and allowing Him to change us from the inside out.  We need a greater and more radical repentance of our sins and realization that there is something within us that is deprived and broken.  Without faith in Christ and reliance upon the grace of God then we are doomed.  The realization should be that without the cross of Christ and the victory He has over death due to the resurrection we have no chance of saving ourselves.
      I need to pray and I encourage you to pray that God would change us from the inside out.  That He would change our desires and our heart.  We need not to try harder, but we need a new heart.  We don't need to change appearance but substance.  In the Old Testament, this was called a circumcision of the heart.  It says in Deut 30:6 "Moreover the Lord your God will bring you into the land which your fathers possessed and you shall possess it; and He will prosper you and multiply you more than your fathers. Moreover the Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the Heart of your descendants, to love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, in order that you may live."  This is my prayer also, that God would circumcise my heart to love God with all of my heart, mind, soul and strength.