BIBLE STUDY MANUALS: ROMANS CHAPTER 6: THE NEW SELF IN CHRIST

DOES THE BELIEVER RECEIVE A NEW NATURE REPLACING THE OLD SIN NATURE?

ROMANS CHAPTER 6

I) INTRODUCTION

William R. Newell states, ["ROMANS VERSE ~ BY ~ VERSE" Kregel Classics, Grand Rapids, Mi, 1994, p. 200]:

"We come now to the second part of Christ's work for us - our identification with His death.

It is not until we come to Chapter Six that the question of a holy walk as over against a sinful walk, comes up. For the blessed verses which describe the results of the discovery of peace with God, and of 'justification of life' and 'reigning in life' through Christ, as revealed in Chapter Five, are things of experience, of rejoicing, - even in the hope of the glory of God Himself! But the question of a holy walk under this 'abounding grace' is now brought up, in Chapter Six, in the answers to two questions: First, shall we keep sinning that grace may keep abounding? and, Second, The fact having been revealed that we are not under the principle of law but under that of grace, shall we use our liberty to commit sin? That is, Shall we use our freedom from the law-principle for selfish ends?

The answer to the first question is, that for all who are in Christ, the old relationship to sin is broken, - for they federally shared Christ's death to sin, and are to reckon it so, and walk in 'newness of life' unto God. The answer to the second question is, that anyone 'yielding his members' becomes servant to that to which he yields, - whether of sin unto death, or of righteousness unto sanctification."

Chapter six begins with "What shall we say, then? Are we to remain in sin that grace may be abounding?" This first verse of chapter 6 expounds upon Paul's previous point in chapter 5 that God's ever abounding grace covers man's ever increasing sins. Hence we shall begin at that previous point at the end of chapter five:

II) [Ro 5:20]:

(v. 20) "The Law was added so that the trespass might increase. But where sin increased, grace increased all the more"

A) THE LAW WAS ADDED SO THAT THE TRESPASS MIGHT INCREASE PROVING MAN TO BE DELIBERATELY & UTTERLY SINFUL, INCAPABLE OF ANYTHING GOOD

"The Law was added so that the trespass might increase" =

"trespass" = a deliberate violation of a known command

The Mosaic Law was "added" to what God required of man with the expected result that mankind would inevitably and deliberately violate the Law demonstrating that he is "utterly sinful" and beyond being able to reconcile himself with God.

The Law with the definite article refers here to the Mosaic Law - a set of God's rules of holiness to live by. It is stipulated here as being added for all those whom are under it to obey with the intended result that the trespass against God would increase. The trespass is defined as a specific kind of sin: a willful violation of a known statue of God's holiness.

The statutes of God's holiness to live by caused men to be held accountable to them with the intended result that due to their intrinsic sinful nature men purposely violated them all the more now that they were made known.

1) [Compare Ro 7:12-14]:

(v. 12) "So then, the Law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous and good.

(v. 13) Did that which is good, then, become death to me? By no means

[Man is already born dead in his sins and under God's condemnation - the Law didn't cause that!]

But in order that sin might be recognized as sin, it produced death in me through what was good, so that through the commandment sin might become utterly sinful.

[So that through the commandment, i.e., the Law, man recognizes he is dead in his sins and is declared utterly sinful, depraved and incapable of reconciling himself to God - a "slave to sin"]

(v. 14) We know that the Law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin."

2) [Compare Ro 3:23]:

"For all [men] have sinned and are constantly falling short of the glory of God"

"have sinned" = constative aorist = have been constantly committing sins

"are constantly falling short of" = "usterountai" = signifies that all men are constantly committing sins.

Kenneth S. Wuest states, (Wuest's Word Studies From the Greek New Testament, Vol 1, Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, Grand Rapids, Mi, 1992, p. 59:

" 'have sinned' is constative aorist, presenting a panoramic view of the human race as doing nothing except committing sin."

3) [Compare Ro 6:20]:

"For when you were slaves of sin [before you were saved, (Ro 6:6] you were free in regard to righteousness. [i.e., not able to do anything righteous] "

II cont.) [Ro 5:20 cont.]:

(v. 20) "The Law was added so that the trespass might increase. But where sin increased, grace increased all the more"

B) WHEN THE LAW WAS ADDED THERE CAME MANKIND'S INCREASED AND DELIBERATE SINNING AGAINST IT BUT THEN ALL THE MORE CAME GOD'S INCREASING GRACE

"But where sin increased, grace increased all the more" =

So the verse goes on to say, where sin increased - sin being all violations of God's holiness - grace increased all the more. Grace is defined in general as God's unmerited favor toward man, His free blessing. The specific grace in view here is as described in previous context of the book of Romans and as inferred in this verse and the next:

(1) God's free covering of the penalty for sins of all men including those which increased all the more when the Law was added for men to obey.

[Note that the paying of the penalty for one's sins is one thing which was accomplished on the cross at Calvary once for all mankind for all time; and personal righteousness and forgiveness unto eternal life by a moment of faith alone in Christ alone is another ]:

(2) God's free provision of His righteousness and eternal life to those who believe in Jesus Christ.

Ref #1: Ro3 Ref #2: Ro4

Where mankind's sins increased as a result of now deliberating rebelling against the statutes of God's Law, God in His abounding grace in accordance with His sovereign plan had already accounted for those sins being covered through the once for all time sacrifice of His Son, Jesus Christ at Calvary as more specifically referred to in verse 21 which follows below:

III) [Ro 5:20-21]:

(v. 20) "The Law was added so that the trespass might increase. But where sin increased, grace increased all the more,

(v. 21) so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord."

A) THE SIN NATURE'S REIGN IN UNSAVED MAN IS CHARACTERIZED BY ETERNAL DEATH BUT THE GRACE OF GOD PROVIDES FOR THE REIGN THROUGH THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF JESUS CHRIST IN THE BELIEVER WHICH IS CHARACTERIZED BY ETERNAL LIFE

"so that, just as sin reigned in death" =

"so that" = God's grace increased all the more as man's trespasses increased so that, i.e., for the purpose that.

"so that, just as sin reigned" = "sin" = sin, singular, the sin nature, the flesh, the old man which reigns over unsaved man which is characterized by eternal death.

"so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." =

The phrase "so that" is followed by a parallel comparison between the rule of the sin nature which is characterized by eternal death in unsaved man vs. the rule of the righteousness of Jesus Christ our Lord which is characterized by bringing eternal life in the one who believes.

1) [Compare Ro 3:21-22]:

"But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. 22 This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe."

God's free grace covering of the penalty for sins was provided so that just as sin ruled over man which caused man to sin all the time unto temporal and eternal death; so now God's free grace covering for sin reigns through God's provision of righteousness providing eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord for those who believe.

This grace provision of God's covering of the penalty for all men's sins results in the provision of righteousness to the one who believes in Jesus Christ. Such righteousness reigns over the believer instead of sin. And it results in the believer's reception of eternal life to him the moment he trusts alone in Christ alone as confirmed in chapters 3 & 4.

IV) [Ro 5:20-6:1]:

(v. 5:20) "The Law was added so that the trespass might increase. But where sin increased, grace increased all the more,

(v. 5:21) so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

(v. 6:1) What shall we say, then? Are we to remain in sin that grace may be abounding?

(v. 6:2) Far be the thought! Such ones as we, - who died to sin! how shall we any longer be living in it?"

A) PAUL ASKS THE BELIEVER WHAT SHALL WE SAY THEN IN VIEW OF GOD'S EVER ABOUNDING GRACE COVERING MAN'S EVER INCREASING SINS

"What shall we say, then?" =

Paul asks the question "What shall we say then?" in view of what he just got through saying in 5:20-21 - that the Law was added so that the trespass - deliberate violation of a now made known statute of God's holiness - might increase; but where sin increased, God's free grace covering of that sin increased all the more in order that, just as sin had ruled in man causing temporal and eternal death so God's grace which covers sins might reign in the believer through His provision of righteousness to those who expressed a moment of faith alone in Jesus Christ our Lord alone.

IV cont.) [Ro 5:20-6:1 cont.]:

(v. 5:20) "The Law was added so that the trespass might increase. But where sin increased, grace increased all the more,

(v. 5:21) so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

(v. 6:1) What shall we say, then? Are we to remain in sin that grace may be abounding?

(v. 6:2) Far be the thought! Such ones as we, - who died to sin! how shall we any longer be living in it?"

B) THE QUESTION IS THEN ASKED, 'SHALL WE BELIEVERS REMAIN IN SIN, I.E., LEAD A LIFESTYLE OF SIN IN SUBJECTION TO THE REIGN OF THE INTRINSIC SIN NATURE?

"Are we to remain in sin so that grace may abound" =

Paul then asks believers, who per earlier verses have been declared justified by a moment of faith alone in Christ alone which includes himself, 'shall we believers go on sinning so that God's free grace covers the penalty for those sins?'

Notice that the ever increasing sins committed by the believer are covered by God's ever increasing grace maintaining the believer's righteous standing before God. Note thatto be justified = to be declared to have a righteous standing before God. Hence the believer is eternally secure because of God's ever increasing grace.

"epimenoumen [pres, act, subj] ........te amartia [dative case]" =

"are we to remain....................................in sin" ..........................=

"are we to remain" is in the deliberative subjunctive which poses a question of objective possibility best rendered in English, 'Are we to - is such the path' (maybe we choose to and maybe we don't)

So the question is asked, 'Shall we believers continue in sin, i.e., lead a lifestyle of sin in subjection to the reign of the intrinsic sin nature or not?

So verse 6:1 states the false objection in the form of a question: 'one may say that if one is saved by grace alone through faith alone, then one can choose to continue "in sin", i.e., remain under the absolute control of the sin nature; and the more that one evidenced this control over him by committing evil acts, the more God's grace would increase to provide for forgiveness of that continuance as a result of the continued control of the individual by the sin nature. Thus objectors to free grace salvation by faith alone in Christ alone would falsely state that if a moment of faith in Christ were the only condition whereby one is to be saved, (and it is), then believers would be encouraged to keep on sinning'. Nothing could be farther from the truth. That is why Paul uses the strong negative in verse 2.

[Newell, op. cit., p. 201]:

"This question arises constantly, both in uninstructed believers, and in blind unbelievers. The message of simple grace, apart from all works, to the poor natural heart of man seems wholly inconsistent and impossible. 'Why!' people say 'If where sin abounds grace overflows, then the more sin, the more grace.' So the unbeliever rejects the grace plan.

Moreover, the uninstructed Christian also is afraid; for he says, 'If we are in a reign of pure grace, what will control our conscious evil tendencies? We fear such utter freedom. Put us under 'rules for holy living,' and we can get along.'

Another sad fact is that some professing Christians welcome the 'abounding grace' doctrine because of the liberty they feel it gives to things in their daily lives which they know, or could know, to be wrong."

[Everett F. Harrison states, The Expositor's Bible Commentary, vol 10, Frank E. Gaebelien, Editor, Zondervan Publishing, Grand Rapids, Mi, 1976, p. 68]:

"It is notable that Paul begins this discussion by raising an objection and answering it. The objection grows out of his presentation of justification, especially the teaching that where sin increased, grace increased all the more (5:20). The query, then, is to this effect: 'Are we not able, or even obliged, by the logic of justification, to continue on in sin, now that we are Christians, in order to give divine grace as much opportunity as possible to display itself? The more we sin, the more will God's grace be required to meet the situation, and this will in turn contribute the more to His glory.'

V) [Ro 6:1-2]:

(v. 1) "What shall we say, then? Are we to remain in sin that grace may be abounding?

(v. 2) Far be the thought! Such ones as we, - who died to sin! how shall we any longer be living in it?"

A) PAUL USES THE STRONGEST OF NEGATIVES TO ANSWER THE QUESTION, 'ARE WE BELIEVERS TO REMAIN IN SIN THAT GRACE MAY BE ABOUNDING?'

"Far be the thought" = "By no means" =

"Me .genoito"

"Not May it be!"

This is the strongest of negatives in koine Greek, it is in the aorist tense, middle voice, optative mood. Optative mood signifies Paul's wish that it be so that believers not continue committing acts of sin. Hence it is not a certainty. The aorist tense in optative mood signifies a simple undefined completed action, not a continuous one. The concept of completed action here, or rather negative completed action, points to the believer "by no means" should ever consider continuing in sin at any point in time. Hence we have the aorist tense which emphatically rules out such a consideration at any time.

The middle voice indicates that the believer's participation is required in some manner upon himself - it is up to him to decide whether to go on sinning or not. And with the strongest of negatives: Paul's answer is never!

V cont.) [Ro 6:1-2 cont.]:

(v. 1) "What shall we say, then? Are we to remain in sin that grace may be abounding?

(v. 2) Far be the thought! Such ones as we, - who died to sin! how shall we any longer be living in it?"

B) BELIEVERS HAVE DIED TO, I.E., HAVE BEEN SEPARATED FROM THE ABSOLUTE AUTHORITY - FROM THE SLAVERY TO - THEIR OLD SIN NATURES IN THEIR DAILY LIVES

"Such ones as we, - who died to sin" =

"Such ones as we" = "hoitines", relative pronoun of characterization which has in view all believers with an emphatic force because of it's primary position at the beginning of the phrase.

[William R. Newell states, "ROMANS VERSE ~ BY ~ VERSE" Kregel Classics, Grand Rapids, Mi, 1994, p. 201]:

'''Here we have... "such ones as we" (hoitines). This is more than a relative pronoun: it is a pronoun of characterization, 'placing those referred to in a class' (Lightfoot). Paul thus has before his mind all Christians, and he places this pronoun at the very beginning: 'such ones as we!' '''

"sin" = singular = old sin nature. Scripture indicates that no believer will be sinless in this life.

1) [Compare 1 Jn 1:8, 10]:

(v. 8) "If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.

(v. 10) If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives."

The plural word, 'sins' refers in Scripture to acts of sin. The word sin here, (singular) refers to that which is in man which generates those acts of sin = the 'sin nature', the 'flesh', the 'old man'.

''who died to sin" = have become inactivated in such a way that one is no longer under the absolute authority, i.e., the slavery of the sin nature - such that everything one does, even the 'good' things need be no longer motivated and contaminated by the indwelling sin nature.

[Newell, cont.]:

"He [Paul] characterizes all Christians as those 'who died.' The translation, 'are dead' is wrong, for the tense of the Greek verb is the aorist, which denotes not a state but a past act or fact. It never refers to an action as going on or prolonged. As Winer says, 'The aorist states a fact as something having taken place.' Note how strikingly and repeatedly this tense is used in this chapter as referring to the death of which the apostle speaks: Mark most particularly that the apostle in verse 2 does not call upon Christians to die to sin, but asserts that they shared Christ's death, they died to sin!"

Previously, in verse 5:21 we learned that the old sin nature in the individual reigned in death in the unsaved man's life, but now the believer is no longer under that reign; he has died, i.e., become separated from the rule of death of the sin nature through the grace of God through the righteousness of Jesus Christ:

1) [Compare Ro 5:21]:

(v. 21) "So that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord."

2) [Compare Ro 6:6-7]:

(v. 6) "For we know that our old man [the sin nature] was crucified with Him [i.e., "we died to sin", (Ro 6:2)] so that the body of sin [i.e., the sin nature] might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin.

[Notice that the death to sin is not extinction of sin in one's life but a one time separation from one's slavery to the sin nature]:

(v. 7) because anyone who has died [been separated from the control of] has been freed from sin."

Just as an automobile can be described as having a dead battery, i.e., it has 'died to its battery', when that battery which is located in the car is no longer in charge of providing an electrical charge to start the engine;

so in the same way an individual can be described as having 'died to sin', when that sin nature which is located in that individual is no longer in charge of the lifestyle of the individual such that his behavior is no longer evil all the time.

While the sin nature is in charge, even the good that that individual does is contaminated with self-centered motivations coming out of the sin nature, (Ref. Isa 64:6). So everything the unbeliever does is unrighteous, even the human good he does.

And so in the same way the individual who has trusted alone in Christ alone is "dead to sin" in the sense of no longer being subject to the rulership/control of the indwelling sin nature in everything he does.

However, just as one can choose to recharge the dead battery so that it can be in 'charge' again, so the believer can choose to re-enslave himself to his sin nature but now with a new arrangement:

The believer's voluntary enslavement is now under the overall sovereign rule of God the Holy Spirit Who reigns supreme in the believer's life no matter what the circumstances or choices that that believer makes:

3) [Compare Ro 8:9]:

(v. 9) "You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ.

[and all believers have the Spirit of God living in them, (Eph 1:13-14) - so all are under the control of the Holy Spirit]

(v. 10) But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin [i.e., the believer is separated from the absolute control of the sin nature], yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness."

4) [Compare Ro 6:14]:

"For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, [any rules of human conduct relative to salvation] but under [God's sovereign rule of] grace."

Paul reiterates here that believers are not under the mastership, i.e., the sovereign control of the sin nature but under God's sovereign rule of grace.

So if the child of God is unfaithful he will be made subject to God's discipline until he repents via the sovereignty of the Holy Spirit in him, (cp Heb 12:4-13).

So Paul answers in verse 1, the false objection that people make when they say if an individual is saved by faith alone through grace alone without having to commit to some kind of 'holy' lifestyle then that individual would freely, i.e., without consequence, continue in sin in all that he does and all the more, i.e., he has a license to sin = he is still under the control of his old sin nature. Paul says, "By no means" (NIV) or "God forbid"(KJV), "me-genoito" = lit., "not happened" or "may it not be". Then he states that a Christian has died once and for all to the absolute authority of the old sin nature in his life.

Before this death to the sin nature, everything the individual did, even human good, was directed and contaminated by the sin nature:

5) [Isa 64:6]:

"All of us have become like one who is unclean,

and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags;

we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away."

6) [Compare Ro 6:20-23]:

(v. 20) "When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the control of righteousness.

(v. 21) What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things result in death!

(v. 22) But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life.

(v. 23) For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."

But now, once one becomes a believer, Paul says, 'How is it even possible that a believer who died to sin be living under its sovereign control any longer?' Recall that death always means separation never extinction. In the case in Ro 6:2, one is separated from the control of the old sin nature but this does not mean the extinction of the old sin nature within one (ref. Ro 7:21-25), nor does it mean that one cannot reenslave oneself to it. But that sin nature can never again be in absolute control of that individual; for the child of God is now under the absolute sovereignty of God the Holy Spirit through Holy Spirit Baptism:

D) HAVING DIED TO SIN, I.E., THE SIN NATURE DOES NOT SIGNIFY THAT THE SIN NATURE NO LONGER EXISTS, NOR THAT IT NO LONGER CAN HAVE ABSOLUTE INFLUENCE OVER THE BELIEVER

1) [Eph 4:22-24]:

(v. 22) "You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires

(v. 23) to be made new in the attitude of your minds [ cf. Ro 12:2]

[Notice that one who is a believer still has an "old self" which was present in his former way of life, which "old self" continues to be present in the believer, and which the believer because of this "old self" is "being corrupted by its deceitful desires" . This "old self" then is to be "put off" such that believers are to be "made new in the attitude of [their] minds"]:

(v. 24) and to put on the [brand] new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness."

[So in order to put off the "old self" and put on the "new self" which was "created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness" you believers must make yourselves "new in the attitude of your minds". This points to believers making an ongoing effort from within their minds which results in putting off the old self, i.e., the former way of life - changing from an attitude of the mind which has deceitful desires to putting on the new self, i.e., changing to an attitude in your minds to be like God true righteousness and holiness]

V cont.) [Ro 6:1-2 cont.]:

(v. 1) "What shall we say, then? Are we to remain in sin that grace may be abounding?

(v. 2) Far be the thought! Such ones as we - who died to sin! How shall we any longer be living in it?"

"How shall we any longer be living in it" =

The verb "be living in it" is rendered from the Greek:

"pOs eti .......zEsomen ......en autE" =

"how longer shall we live in .it"

"zEsomen" is in the future tense, active voice and indicative mood. Indicative mood is a statement of fact. Hence the question follows Paul's declaration that the believer has died to sin and emphasizes it all the more. Since the control of the sin nature has been deactivated in the believer's life Paul then asks, 'How will the believer live under it?' for the sin nature has been made inactive in the believer's life. This question is phrased in such a way as to elicit the answer that the believer will not be living under the control of the sin nature because he has been separated from its control over him.

VI) [Ro 6:3]:

"Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death?"

A) ALL BELIEVERS HAVE BEEN BAPTIZED BY GOD THE HOLY SPIRIT, I.E., IDENTIFIED WITH & PLACED INTO CHRIST JESUS ESPECIALLY WITH RESPECT TO RECEIVING THE BENEFITS BROUGHT ABOUT BY HIS DEATH ON THE CROSS

"Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death?" =

"Or" = This conjunction begins an all important point relative to the believer's choice of lifestyles - a point about him being baptized into Christ, into His death, burial and resurrection so that that believer could choose to live a new & godly life.

1) THE BELIEVER'S POSITION IS ONE OF BEING PLACED INTO CHRIST JESUS AND PLACED INTO HIS DEATH VIA HOLY SPIRIT, NOT WATER BAPTISM

Paul continues to reflect on the believer's position by reminding us that "all of us who have been baptized, i.e, placed into Christ Jesus (and that includes all believers) were baptized = placed into His death.

"were baptized [into Christ Jesus]" = "ebaptisthemen" = were placed into. The definition of the verb to baptize which is transliterated from the Greek verb baptizo is to immerse into or identify with.

Here in Ro 6:3a it is in the aorist tense: completed action, indicative mood: statement of fact and passive voice: the believer is passive in his placement into Christ Jesus.

The passive voice rules out the believer actively participating in water baptism. Hence we have a placement into Christ Jesus by an Entity outside of the believer - the believer being passive in this activity by definition. This points to God Himself, via the Holy Spirit, i.e., Holy Spirit baptism and not water baptism. The Holy Spirit is the only one who has this capacity in the first place.

So the believer is placed by God the Holy Spirit into Christ Jesus and is now part of the body of His Son. Paul continues to say that this has immediate ramifications.

The believer has been placed into the death of Christ which occurred historically hundreds of years ago such that what was accomplished by that death is now attributable by God to the believer himself - not the least of which is the payment for the penalty for all of of his sins and complete and total forgiveness unto eternal life - for that was the declared purpose for our Lord's sacrifice on the cross at Calvary.

"eis ...ton thanaton autou ebaptisthEmen"

"into ........death .....His ....were baptized"

"were baptized [into His death]" = "ebaptisthemen" = were placed into His death. It is in the aorist tense: completed action, indicative mood: statement of fact and passive voice: the believer is passive in his placement by God into the death of Christ Jesus. And not only that, it is a completed action pointing to the eternal security of the believer. The context demands a once for all time action of receiving the benefit of what our Lord did on the cross because our Lord's sacrifice on the cross is once for all time for the sins of the whole world. There is no sense of something more to receive here as a result of the aorist - completed action tense.

2) THROUGH HOLY SPIRIT BAPTISM INTO CHRIST JESUS & HIS DEATH, BURIAL & RESURRECTION, THE BELIEVER IS CREDITED WITH HAVING ALL OF HIS SINS PERMANENTLY FORGIVEN - PAST, PRESENT & FUTURE

So the individual of the church age Who has trusted alone in Christ alone has died to the absolute authority of the old sin nature by means of baptism - Holy Spirit baptism.

This could not be the active action of believer's water baptism since the verb "were baptized" is in the passive voice, i.e., God the Holy Spirit provided the action. The believer's part in this particular kind of baptism is passive. Furthermore, Ro 6:4 indicates that the action of being baptized produced the result in the believer of being actually, not symbolically, identified with the death, burial & resurrection of our Lord. So the believer now through Holy Spirit baptism can lead a new & godly life. Believer's water baptism cannot do this, only God's action can.

Recall that the Holy Spirit is received by the church age believer at the point of faith alone in Christ alone as Savior, (Eph 1:13-14 )Holy Spirit baptism places the individual into Christ identifying the believer with what our Lord accomplished on the cross - this happening at the point of faith alone in Christ alone unto eternal life, (Eph 1:13-14). So the believer is completely credited with the forgiveness of all his sins, past, present and future.

[]

3) THIS BAPTISM INTO CHRIST CREDITS ALL BELIEVERS WITH THE ABSOLUTE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD'S SON

This Holy Spirit baptism takes you as a guilty sinner and identifies you in such a way with Jesus Christ that when Almighty God looks upon you He no longer sees you alone but He sees you clothed in the perfections of the absolute righteousness of His Son, (Ro 3:21-22

This kind of baptism satisfies the integrity and the justice of God against you, (Ro 3:26), so that you are related to Jesus Christ in such a way that God has no fault with you anymore - there is no guilt that He holds against you for sins, (Ro 3:21-31).

4) HOLY SPIRIT BAPTISM IS EXCLUSIVELY DONE TO EVERY INDIVIDUAL BY GOD AND GOD ALONE AT THE MOMENT THAT INDIVIDUAL TRUSTS ALONE IN CHRIST ALONE

When an individual is referred to in Scripture as being baptized in the Holy Spirit, as in the passage in Romans chapter 6:1-4, the verb is always in the passive voice relative to the individual indicating that the person who is baptized by the Holy Spirit has nothing to do with it - it is God and God alone Who accomplishes this task. This rules out believer's water baptism which is an active voice action.

Note that the doctrine of the total and exclusive sovereignty of God in the work of a person's salvation is taught throughout the Bible, (cp Eph 1:3-14).

Holy Spirit Baptism is something that is done to a person, hence the passive voice when it is referred to in Scripture. The person simply receives the action by God the Holy Spirit of being placed into Christ and receiving all the benefits of His dying on the cross - all of this occurring at the point of faith. Paul points out in Romans 6:3, (as well as in 1 Cor 12:13 and Gal 3:2), that this baptism has been experienced by every believer.

5) HOLY SPIRIT BAPTISM PLACES ONE INTO CHRIST TRANSFORMING HIM INTO A NEW CREATURE OUTSIDE OF THE ABSOLUTE CONTROL OF THE SIN NATURE

So when God the Holy Spirit baptizes a believer into Christ He also terminates the absolute control of the old sin nature over that Christian.

a) [2 Cor 5:17]:

"Therefore if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.'

Dr. John Danish, Pastor Berean Memorial Church, Irving, Tx states in an audio tape of sermon 2/25/96:

"Therefore.... [refers back to the previous context, especially vv. 1 and 5]:

Verse 1 says that if the earthly tent, that is your human body, which is our house is torn down - that means you die - we have a building from God, a house not made with hands eternal in the heavens. You have a heavenly body that you enter upon death. And you enter a marvelous place of blessing when that happens...

Then in verse 5, he says [that] the Holy Spirit indwells every believer as a token or down payment of God's promise to take us to heaven when we accept His salvation by a moment of faith alone in Christ alone.

i) [2 Cor 5:5]:

"Now He Who prepared us for this very purpose [of going into heaven in this super body, v. 1] is God, Who gave to us the Spirit as a down payment."

ii) [Compare Eph 1:13-14]

(v. 13) "And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in Him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit,

(v. 14) Who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession - to the praise of His glory."

The reason the Holy Spirit indwells every believer is because it is God's seal, His stamp. You're not going anywhere except to heaven. God's grace will not be frustrated by anything that man does once you have believed in the gospel, (Eph 1:13-14), i.e., trusted alone in Christ alone to save you from your sins.

Then in verse 6 God Himself makes it certain that if we leave our bodies, we go to be with the Lord:

iii) [2 Cor 5:6]:

"Therefore, being always of good courage, and knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord -"

So now we come to the greatest example and the demonstration of the grace of God in verse 17:

a cont.) [2 Cor 5:17 cont.]:

"Therefore if any man is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.']

Verse 17 reaches a conclusion based on verses 1 through 16. And so we begin with this word, 'Therefore'. It means, 'So that'. It indicates a conclusion about grace provisions... ['if' =] since...

['any man' =] any one, man or woman...

['in Christ' =

iv) [Compare 1 Cor 12:13]:

"For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit."]

We get into Christ at the point of our faith in Christ. That's when you receive the Baptism of the Holy Spirit. And that's what water baptism is a symbol and a sign of - that you have been placed into Jesus Christ and that's why you are eternally secure.

You can never be removed from Him. You cannot remove yourself, God cannot remove you, man cannot remove you - you are in Christ. It's an expression indicating that one is saved. It is an expression which is particularly used in the New Testament Age of the Church. They didn't talk like that in the Old Testament. In the New Testament it is a [phrase] which is commonly understood... [to mean] to be saved....

In the book of Romans the Apostle Paul says that he who.... is not indwelt by Christ is none of His - making it very clear that if Christ does not indwell you, [then] you don't belong to Him - meaning, 'You're not a Christian'. Nobody can be a Christian without first having been baptized into Him by the baptism of the Holy Spirit at the point of salvation. So 'In Christ' is referring to a believer...

v) [Compare Gal 3:27-28]:

(v. 27) "For all of you who were baptized into Christ [i.e., all of you who have received the baptism of the Holy Spirit] have clothed yourselves with Christ.

(v. 28) There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus."

Once you are in Christ as a saved person, there is no racial, there is no national, there is no gender difference. Everybody is [one] in Christ... So God sees us as part of His Son...

This [being] placed in Christ is... our positional place. And that means [that] we have positional sanctification. Sanctification means [that] you are absolutely perfect in God's sight - as perfect as Jesus Christ... It is all based upon the Grace of God [not on anything one does]...

a cont.) [2 Cor 5:17 cont.]:

"Therefore if any man is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.'

Now this word 'creation' is stressed because it... has no verb [italics above indicate no verb is in the Greek text]... Being in Christ means to be born again making us a new creation. We are not new creatures because of something we do or don't do.... This verse has to do with what God in His grace has done for us, not what we do for Him or for ourselves...

["new = "kaino"]

means... a new kind, a new species. What this word is saying is that Christians in the Church Age, of the Age of Grace, are a new species of human beings in God's Creation.... [Cp Gal 3:27-28 above]

And this new species began on the Day of Pentecost with the baptism of the Holy Spirit when [God] joined all believers together into one body called the Church...

vi) [Compare Eph 1:22]:

(v. 22) "And He put all things in subjection under His feet, and gave Him as head over all things to the church,

(v. 23) which is His body, the fullness of Him Who fills all in all."

The Christian is a new creature, a new species. He becomes that automatically at the point of salvation when he is placed into Christ by the baptism of the Holy Spirit. And that's what this newness is all about. Not that he is going to behave himself. Not that he is going to stop sinning...

["creation" = "ktisis"]

This word means creation, a new kind in God's order of creation... God's unique new breed in God's creation...

["the old things passed away; behold, new things have come."]

These are not the ways and experiences of our unsaved days... but of our days in spiritual death under enslavement to the old sin nature...

["old" = "archaia"]

[The word "old" here] means that it existed from old times all the way from the beginning...

["passed away" = "parelthen"]

This word [which is translated as 'passed away' in the Greek Bible... is stated in a way that means [that] it came to an abrupt end. It didn't just gradually fade away... [So] it can't be your conduct which gradually might become better... 'Passed away' is an abrupt action...

["have become" = gegonen]

[This verb is in the] perfect tense... [which] means that at some point in the past something happens and the results of that continues forever and ever and never stops... You have become a new creation in Christ Jesus and because [of] this tense it tells us that it starts and can never stop. That's another evidence that you can never lose your salvation..."

VII) [Ro 6:4]:

"We were therefore buried with Him through baptism into [His] death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life."

A) INTRODUCTION

The death of Christ provides the believer with the freedom and capacity to choose to live a new and godly life or to revert to slavery to the old ungodly nature within him. So verse 4 in Romans chapter 6 verifies that this union with Jesus Christ via Holy Spirit baptism means that the believer is credited with sharing the benefits of Christ's death, burial and resurrection which includes complete forgiveness, the crediting to him of the righteousness of Christ and the provision of the enablement to live a new and godly life.

VII cont.) [Ro 6:4 cont.]:

"We were therefore buried with Him through baptism into [His] death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life."

B) THE BELIEVER HAS BEEN PLACED INTO, I.E., IDENTIFIED WITH THE DEATH, BURIAL & RESURRECTION OF CHRIST THROUGH HOLY SPIRIT BAPTISM SO AS TO HAVE A POSITION OF UNION WITH THE SON OF GOD WHICH PROVIDES FOR A NEW LIFE OUTSIDE THE CONTROL OF THE SIN NATURE

"We were therefore buried with Him through baptism into [His] death" =

This verse is saying, 'We believers were therefore entombed with Him by means of this being placed into His death.' Through Holy Spirit baptism, the believer also died with reference to the absolute authority of the old sin nature over him. It is God telling the Christian through His Word that the Christian has been placed into the death of Christ so as to have a position of union with the Son of God which accrues to the Christian - in a finite sense - everything that Christ is and everything that Christ has done in a way that can never be severed from him. Grace has given it to him and grace will never take it away. What one has earned one can lose, but what God's grace, His unmerited favor, has given as a free gift, can never be lost. So a second baptism is not something that is going to happen to a believer after he has become a believer; nor something that he ought to seek. No, the believer has already had it done to him by the Holy Spirit when he placed his trust alone in Jesus Christ alone for eternal life, (Eph 1:13-14). Paul says in Romans 6:4 that a believer has already been crucified with Christ at that once-for-all-time point in his life when he trusted alone in Christ alone as Savior. Refer to what Paul states in Romans chapter 3 when he indicates that those who received the gift of Christ's perfect righteousness by trusting in Him, received that gift solely as a result of Who our Lord is and what He did on the cross which was to die for the sins of the whole world: all people - all their sins. Compare Romans 3:21-3:31 [].

[Everett F. Harrison states, The Expositor's Bible Commentary, Vol. 10, Zondervan Publishing, Grand Rapids, Michigan, Frank E. Gaebelein, Gen. Ed., p. 68-69]:

"In this section [Ro 6:1-14] we will see that Christ passed through certain epochal experiences - namely, death, burial, and resurrection. Viewed from the standpoint of His substitutionary sacrifice for sin, these events do not involve our participation, though our salvation depends on them. Our Lord was alone in enduring the cross, in being buried, and in being raised from the dead. But His redeeming work is not only substitutionary; it is also representative. 'One died for all, and therefore all died' (2 Cor 5:14). So Christians are viewed as being identified with Christ in His death, burial, and resurrection. And as truly as He, having borne our sin, is now removed from any claim of sin against Him - because He died to sin and rose again - we [believers] also, by virtue of being joined to Him [in Holy Spirit baptism], are delivered from any claim of sin to control us. This line of thought is what Paul proceeds to develop in the passage before us. It is evident that God has a plan for dealing with the power of sin as well as with its guilt. The way has been prepared for this emphasis by the presentation of the solidarity between Christ and the redeemed in 5:12-21....

The importance of burial is that it attests the reality of death (1 Cor 15:3,4). It expresses with finality the end of the old life governed by relationship with Adam. It also expresses the impossibility of a new life apart from divine action."

1) [Compare Gal 6:20]:

"I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, Who loved me and gave Himself for me."

The basic thought here is that Paul and all believers are crucified with Christ. That is the individual's new position when he becomes a believer. This is what the baptism of God the Holy Spirit is all about: it is a position which God has placed an individual in when he becomes a believer.

VII cont.) [Ro 6:4 cont.]:

"We were therefore buried with Him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, even so we too may live a new life."

C) A COMPARISON IS MADE BETWEEN OUR LORD'S DEATH, BURIAL AND RESURRECTION AND THE BELIEVER'S ENABLEMENT TO LIVE A NEW AND GODLY LIFE

"in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, even so we too may live a new life" =

"in order that" = "hina" = in order that. Paul is going to introduce a purpose for the believer having been buried with Christ through Holy Spirit baptism.

Note that the kind of baptism which is portrayed here is a passive one relative to the believer's participation. Yet this kind of baptism places the individual into Christ, identifies the believer with the death, burial & resurrection of our Lord and provides the believer with the capacity to live a new and godly life. Therefore this could not be believer's water baptism; it must be Holy Spirit baptism. Only God can do these things to the believer.

"just as" = "hosper" = 'as a thing is true on one side.

This word introduces the first part of a comparison between two ideas:

Then on the other side of this comparison comes the word "houtos" translated as "so" or "even so". This word indicates that after it comes the conclusion.

So we started with "hosper" = "just as" indicating the first part of this comparison:

"Just as Christ was raised [up] from the dead through the glory of the Father"

"was raised [up]" = " egerthe" =

This word refers to the resurrection from the dead of Jesus Christ. It is in the aorist tense which defines the action as occurring at a point of time in the past - on that Resurrection Sunday morning when Christ Himself rose from the dead. Our Lord's body was resurrected, raised up physically as a sinless body which is a pattern of the bodies that we believers are going to have, (1 Cor 15:49). The verb is also in the passive voice which indicates that Jesus Christ in His dead humanity, (His deity can never die), was raised from the dead by God the Father, (Ro 4:25). This physical raising up from the dead of our Lord indicates that God the Father is satisfied with the payment of the penalty for the sins of the world by Jesus Christ; otherwise God the Father would not have raised our Lord up at all.

"was raised [up] from [the] dead............." =

"from" = from, indicating source.

"[the] dead" = "nekron", adjective used for noun = physical death

VII cont.) [Ro 6:4 cont.]:

"We were therefore buried with Him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life."

"just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father" =

D) CHRIST WAS RAISED FROM THE DEAD AS A RESULT OF GOD'S GLORIOUSLY OMNIPOTENT POWER

"through" = "dia" = "by means of" = preposition indicating that Christ was raised from the dead by the means of the glory of God

"glory" = "doxEs" = the possession of honor because of something uniquely intrinsic about the One receiving the glory. Here "glory" refers to the honor of God. God has honor and glory because of Who He is. This verse is specifically referring to the glory of God the Father in His action of raising Jesus Christ as expressed through His almighty power - his omnipotence which demonstrated His glory, (1 Cor 6:14; 2 Cor 13:4; Ro 4:24-25, Col 1:11).

VII cont.) [Ro 6:4 cont.]:

"We were therefore buried with Him through baptism into [His] death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.

[So, on the one hand] "Just as Christ was raised up from the death by the power [the omnipotence] of the Father, even so..." =

E) AS A RESULT OF THE BELIEVER BEING BURIED WITH CHRIST INTO THE DEATH, BURIAL AND RESURRECTION THROUGH HOLY SPIRIT BAPTISM, THE BELIEVER CAN NOW CHOOSE TO LIVE A GODLY LIFE

And now we come to the "houtos" = "even so" part which is the conclusion of this comparative statement.

"just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life." =

"outos kai .nmeis en kainoteti

"so ....also we .....in .newness ..

zoes ....peripatesomen.[1 pers pl, aorist, active voice, subjunctive]

of life .should walk

The KJV renders a more literal translation of the Greek in this part of verse 4: "even so we also should walk in newness of life."

"walk" = "peripatesomen" = word used figuratively to signify the whole round of activities of one's lifestyle. Aorist tense - indicating one's life viewed as a whole with emphasis on results. It is active - a lifestyle which is chosen by the believer to walk in. Subjunctive mood - a potential mood which signifies in this context that the death of Jesus Christ makes the choice of walking in newness of life a possibility but not a certainty. The death of Jesus Christ makes it possible for the believer, i.e., the one who has been baptized into Christ's death, to have a new moral freedom to live a godly life. But, as Scripture reflects, this capacity for godly living is one which Christians often do not exemplify due to their constant failure of succumbing to the lust patterns of their own sin natures.

VII cont.) [Ro 6:4 cont.]:

"We were therefore buried with Him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life."

F) THE BELIEVER HAS THE UNIQUE CAPACITY TO WALK IN NEWNESS OF LIFE, I.E., IN A NEW KIND OF LIFESTYLE: A GODLY ONE

"even so we also should walk in newness of life." =

"in" = indicating location

"newness" = "kainoteti" = from the Greek word kainos meaning new in the sense of kind rather than new in the sense of time. The proper form of the Greek word "neos' is used when new is to mean new in terms of time or age. Compare "new wine" = "neon" = new in terms of age or time = recent, (Mt 9:17). There is also a new wine in terms of its character, meaning that it is different from the world: a new wine in the kingdom of heaven. "New" = "kainon" = new in terms of species, quality, referring to the new wine of the kingdom age, (Mt 26:29). So "newness" = "kainoteti" in Romans 6:4 means a new quality. The word "newness" = "kainoteti" might better be translated "freshness" , i.e., a fresh new lifestyle, something totally different and unrelated to the days when the old sin nature was always in control.

1) [Compare 2 Cor 5:17]:

"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation: the old has gone, the new has come"

"if anyone is in Christ" = 'if anyone is baptized by God the Holy Spirit into Christ', (Ro 6:4).

"he is a new creation" = "new" = "kaine" = from the same root word translated new [= "kainoteti"] in Romans 6:4. It refers in 2 Cor 5:17 to being neither Jew nor Gentile but a new, i.e. unique creature; a member of the body of Christ - the church - a Christian - unique in all the universe heretofore. Being a new creature, the Christian has a fresh new lifestyle available to him under the control of the Holy Spirit. But there are no guarantees that he will constantly live a godly lifestyle.

VII cont.) [Ro 6:4 cont.]:

"We were therefore buried with Him through baptism [i.e., by being identified with, by being placed] into [Christ's] death in order that, just as Christ was raised [up] from the dead through the glory [meaning His essence - especially His omnipotence] of the Father, so we [believers] too might walk in newness of life."

"so we too might walk in newness of life" [KJV] "life" = "zoes" =

G) THIS NEW LIFESTYLE ENTAILS CHOICES FOR THE BELIEVER -

RE-ENSLAVE HIMSELF TO THE DARKNESS OF THE SIN NATURE REMAINING WITHIN HIM

WALK IN THE LIGHT OF THE NEWNESS OF LIFE NOW PROVIDED WITHIN HIM VIA THE BAPTISM OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

The word "life" = "zoes" in this verse refers to the principal of life, the lifestyle under the control of the light of God the Holy Spirit as opposed to the deathstyle and darkness under the control of the indwelling old sin nature. There is a significance here in the fact that we should walk in a newness - a freshness - of lifestyle because we are no longer dominated by the old sin nature. Notice the word "should" or "might" - indicating possibility, not certainty. It's the choice of the believer every day. We are in fact freed from the absolute control of the old sin nature and under the control of the Holy Spirit. Holy Spirit baptism breaks the absolute rule of the old sin nature over a believer, (Ro 6:2). Christians therefore are now in a position in Christ, (Eph 1:13-14), in which they are eternally secure and enriched with respect to the fact that they now have the opportunity to live a new lifestyle. This cannot say, however, that believers can no longer sin, because many passages in Scripture indicate that they can and do, (cp 1 Jn 1:8, 10). Many passages also admonish Christians not to act like the world and sin thus indicating that they can choose to sin, (Eph 4:22-24; 5:17-6:21 & Col 3:8-14). If this were not possible - that Christians could not sin or lead a lifestyle of sin - then these passages should not be in Scripture.

1) [Compare Ro 6:15-19]:

(v. 15) " 'What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means!

[= 'Shall we believers go ahead and volunteer to commit sin' because we are not under the authority of having to keep the law but under the authority of the system of God's grace? Answer]:

By no means?

[Verses 15 to 19 in Romans chapter 6 covers the subject of two kinds of slavery. The question posed in verse 15, "What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace?" proposes the possibility that if one is under grace and not under any kind of law then that person is free to do evil. Paul responds to this false accusation with the characteristic phrase: "By no means" = 'That is not the case at all!'

Paul's answer is that a Christian under grace is under as much a restraining authority of righteousness, (via God the Holy Spirit), as is the unbeliever who is under the directing authority of the sin nature, (Ro 6:17). The Christian is under the restraining authority of the absolute righteousness of God, (Ro 6:18).]

(v. 16) Don't you know that when you offer yourselves to someone to obey him as slaves, you are slaves to the one whom you obey - whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience which leads to righteousness?

['Doesn't the believer know that when he decides to sin for that moment he becomes a slave of the sin nature in him. Sin leads to separation from God and to premature physical death. Obedience to God the Holy Spirit leads to righteousness and prolonged physical life]

(v. 17) But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you wholeheartedly obeyed the form of teaching to which you were entrusted.

[Though everything you Roman believers used to do before you became a believer, including human good, was out of obedience to the slavery to your sin nature; you as a believer have now chosen to wholeheartedly obey godly teaching.

"obeyed" = believed the teaching of the Gospel of salvation, (1 Pet 4:17; Jn 6:26-29, 40), and thereafter obeyed = complied with the teaching of the Christian way of life as stipulated in God's Word which was entrusted to the believer]

(v. 18) You have been set free from sin [from the absolute control of your slavery to the sin nature] and have become slaves to righteousness.

[The believer has been put under the authority of God's system of righteousness which includes His discipline and His grace operation in the believer's daily life]

(v. 19) I put this in human terms because you are weak in your natural selves. Just as you used to offer the parts of your body in slavery to impurity and to ever-increasing wickedness,

[even when you were doing human good ]

so now offer them in slavery to righteousness leading to holiness.

[Notice that this verse indicates that believers, still being "weak in their natural selves", (i.e., their sin natures)] must choose every day between being sinful or righteous. There are no guarantees that any believer will lead a godly lifestyle.

Christians are not lawless or without authority. Paul's point in Romans 6:11 is that a Christian still does not exercise his own will, but must obey a new master: God, Who demands righteousness. Now it is true that a Christian can disobey His new Master and can resort to the evil propensity of the sin nature. But a sinning Christian will be disciplined by God, His new slave Master, until he acts in righteousness, (Heb 12:3-17). God as a Slavemaster will demand proper response even as the sin nature demanded proper evil response when it was slavemaster. Paul's point in using the slavery illustration, even though it is not a perfect one, ("I am speaking in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh", v. 19), is to make it clear that even though you are a Christian under the freedoms of grace, you are still under God's absolute authority which provides that freedom. A believer is under God's rule of grace which permits the believer a freedom to choose between slavery to the sin nature and God's righteousness]

2) [Compare Ro 7:18-21 & 8:5a]:

(v. 18) "I [the Apostle Paul] know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out.....

(v. 21) So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me.

(v. 22) For in my inner being I delight in God's law'

(v. 23) But I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members."

(8:5a) "Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires."

H) UNBELIEVING MAN AND CARNAL BELIEVERS ARE UNABLE TO DO ANYTHING EXCEPT EVIL OR HUMAN GOOD MOTIVATED BY EVIL BOTH OF WHICH ARE UNACCEPTABLE IN GOD'S EYES

"Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires" =

1) INTRODUCTION

Nothing individuals do is righteous before they became believers. Even the "good" deeds are directed by their intrinsic sin natures under the guise of human good. And everything is directed overall by the forces of the "prince of the power of the air", (Eph 2:2).

So even the human good that people do is contaminated by the sin nature - by rebellious substitution of one's own idea of what they want to do as human good instead of what God has for them to do, (Eph 2:10); or by impure motives or thoughts. In any case, God views all of the human good that man does as outside of the influence of His absolute righteousness, i.e., it is all unrighteous, (Ro 6:20) - and actually viewed by God as "filthy menstrual rags", (Isa 64:6); (as opposed to the divine good that man does - that which is directed by God the Holy Spirit within the faithful believer, Eph 2:10). A number of passages in Scripture indicate that unbelieving man and carnal believers are unable to do anything except evil or human good motivated by evil, both of which are unacceptable in God's eyes:

2) [Ro 6:20]:

(v. 20) "When you were slaves to sin, [as unbelievers] you were free from the control of righteousness."

[Everyone is born into the human race as a slave to the sin nature. In Ro 6:20, Paul uses an example of the well known institution of human slavery to illustrate his point in this matter. (Recall that during the time of the Roman Empire slavery was common). Note that the Greek word "doula" = "slavery" and "douloi" = "slaves" is used here in this passage and not the word for servants which word some translations use. Paul's point is that slaves have no free will, they must obey the authority of the slave master. Everyone is born into the human race as a slave of the sin nature, (Ro 3:9). We all have a constant natural compulsion to do evil even believers, (Ro 7:18-23; 8:5a).

So you have a group of people who form the majority of the world's population who are slaves to Satan who are pursuing the human good and the sins of their master and their father the devil. People, because of their arrogance, make a very serious mistake in thinking that they are free - they are not, they are slaves of Satan if they are not a slave of God and His righteousness. Slaves of Satan will experience what their father the Devil believes:

3) [Compare Jn 8:38-47]:

(v. 38) "I [Jesus] am telling you [unbelievers and carnal believers] what I have seen in the Father's presence, and you [unbelievers and carnal believers] do what you have heard from your father [the Devil]

[Jesus is telling the Pharisees, (Jn 8:13), and by application, all unbelievers and carnal believers with respect to their allegiance and lifestyle]

(v. 39) "'Abraham is our father, 'they answered. 'If you were Abraham's children,' said Jesus, 'then you would do the things Abraham did.

(v. 40) As it is, you are determined to kill Me, a Man Who has told you the truth that I heard from God. Abraham did not do such things.

(v. 41a) You are doing the things your own father does.' ...

(v. 43) Why is My language not clear to; you? Because you are unable to hear what I say.

(v. 44) You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father's desires.

["desires" = "epithumias" = lusts.

He [the Devil] was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him, When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies].

(v. 45) Yet because I tell the truth, you do not believe Me!

(v. 46) Can any of you prove Me guilty of sin? If I am telling the truth, why don't you believe Me?

(v. 47) He who belongs to God hears what God says. The reason you do not hear is that you do not belong to God.' "

Here we have very clearly declared by the Lord that people are slaves of Satan by their natural birth. They are controlled by the devil through the sin nature. The slaves of Satan have no choice but to be subject to the will of their master, their father, the devil. All that they do, even human good, is motivated out of their sin natures which are under Satan's control. They "do not believe" the truth even when presented by the Son of God because they "do not hear" it - they "are unable to hear" it. They do the things" Satan does, they want to "carry out his "desires". Compare what our Lord said about committing murder, it is more than just taking a life premeditatedly:

4) [Compare 2 Cor 4:4]:

"The god of this age [Satan] has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, Who is the image of God."

If one cannot see the light of the gospel of Christ then one is an unbeliever under the control of the sin nature, (Ro 6:17), or a carnal Christian acting as an unbeliever would; and unbelievers "cannot [are unable to] please God", (Ro 8:8). Therefore, unbelievers cannot do any good that is acceptable to God. It is all "filthy menstrual rags" (Isa 64:6), outside of the influence of righteousness, (Ro 6:20).

5) [Ro 8:7-8]:

(v. 7) "The sinful mind [includes ALL unbelievers and carnal Christians] is hostile to God. It does not submit to God's law, nor can it do so.

(v. 8) Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God."

[Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot even do anything good that will be acceptable to God, only evil, even carnal Christians]:

6) [Compare Mt 7:21-23]:

(v. 21) "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of My Father Who is in heaven.

(v. 22) Many will say to Me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?'

[In the name of Jesus these people performed many deeds of human good based on human reasoning of what they wanted to do to please God. They substituted for what God would have them do: first they should have trusted alone in Jesus Christ alone for eternal life and enablement by the Holy Spirit to then do the divine good works that God has set aside for them to do, (Eph 2:10)]

(v. 23) Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. [unbelievers]. Away from Me, you evildoers!"

[Notice that the human good that the people earnestly plead as having been done for God is defined as evil by the Son of God]

7) [Compare Eph 2:1-2]:

(v. 1) "As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins,

(v. 2) in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient."

It is the devil who is the controlling force upon the wills of unbelievers and carnal believers. Satan demands that his slaves live a life of filthiness and of lawlessness. Now this life of filthiness and lawlessness is frequently hard to see because it is often covered over with a veneer of culture, human good, good manners or the hypocrisy of sophistication

VIII) [Ro 6:4-5]:

(v. 4) "We were therefore buried with Him through baptism [i.e., by being identified with, by being placed] into [Christ's] death in order that, just as Christ was raised [up] from the dead through the glory [meaning His essence - especially His omnipotence] of the Father, so we [believers] too might walk in newness of life.

(v. 5) For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall be also in the likeness of His resurrection."

A) SINCE BELIEVERS HAVE ACTUALLY BECOME UNITED WITH CHRIST IN HIS DEATH THEY CERTAINLY SHALL BE RESURRECTED IN THE MANNER HE WAS - UNTO ETERNAL GLORY

"For if [since] we [believers] have become united with Him in the likeness of His death" =

"ei gar sumphutoi .......gegonamen .........tO .....homoiOmati

"If for united together we have become .in the likeness

tou thanatou autou"

.......of death His"

This is a first class "If" clause best rendered "since":

"gegonanmen" = we have become, perfect tense, active voice, indicative mood which renders "ei" = since; thus stipulating a certainty that believers have indeed and forever (perfect tense) become united together in the likeness of His death. The significance of this is that the penalty and forgiveness for all believers' sins is paid for once and for all; for believers are viewed by God as having died with Him.

[BKC, p. 462]:

"6:5-7. The first clause should be translated, 'Since (not if) we have become united in the likeness of His death,' because the statement is assumed to be true and is true."

"For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall be also in the likeness of His resurrection." =

Since believers are identified by God as having died with Christ on the cross for their sins relative to personal forgiveness, (1 Jn 2:2, Acts 10:43), then it follows that they have the certainty of being resurrected from the dead in the manner He was - to eternal glory.

[BKC, cont., p. 462]:

"It affirms the certainty of the second clause of the sentence, which promises that believers are united with Christ in the likeness of His resurrection."

IX) [Ro 6:4-6]:

(v. 5) For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall be also in the likeness of His resurrection,

(v. 6) knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, that our body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin"

A) THE BELIEVER'S UNDERSTANDING THAT HE HAS BECOME UNITED WITH JESUS CHRIST IN THE LIKENESS OF HIS DEATH AND THAT HE SHALL BE ALSO UNITED IN THE LIKENESS OF HIS RESURRECTION LEADS TO KNOWING THAT HIS OLD SELF WAS CRUCIFIED WITH CHRIST

"For [= Since] we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall be also in the likeness of His resurrection; knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him" =

The believer's understanding that he has become united with Jesus Christ in the likeness of His death and the likeness of His resurrection, is paralleled here with knowing that ones old self was crucified with Christ. So at the moment of becoming united with Christ in the likeness of His death which is concurrent with being united in the likeness of His resurrection, one at the same time has ones old self crucified.

B) THE OLD SELF IS CLARIFIED IN SCRIPTURE AS:

1) THE OLD SELF = THE BODY OF DEATH = THE SIN NATURE = THAT ATTRIBUTE OF EVERY INDIVIDUAL BORN AGAIN OR NOT WHICH ORIGINATES SIN

a) [Compare Ro 7:14-25]:

i) INTRODUCTION

Objectors claim that an individual cannot go to heaven if he still evidences a characteristic of sinning while living out their life on this earth. They falsely claim that a heavenbound individual - one who is saved therefore, cannot possess a nature which is conducive to sin, i.e., a sin nature. In Romans chapter 7, however, God's Word describes the Apostle Paul with such a sin nature. So in order to circumvent what Scripture teaches it is often falsely stated that Romans chapter 7 was written in the historical present tense, such that this chapter relates to Paul's condition before he was saved.

But Romans chapter 7 teaches that the Apostle Paul was struggling between what his alive and functioning "inner man", i.e., his born-again spirit was urging him to do and what his sinful nature moved him to do:

[Ro 7:14-25]:

(v. 14) "We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin.

(v. 15) I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.

(v. 16) And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good.

(v. 17) As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me.

(v. 18) I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out.

(v. 19) For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do--this I keep on doing.

(v. 20) Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.

(v. 21) So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me.

(v. 22) For in my inner being I delight in God's law;

(v. 23) but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members.

(v. 24) What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?

(v. 25) Thanks be to God--through Jesus Christ our Lord!"

FURTHER DETAILS AND EXEGESIS:

2) THE OLD SELF = ALL THAT MAN WAS IN ADAM = ALL MEN'S INBORN TENDENCY TO DO EVIL - SAVED AND UNSAVED ALIKE

[The New Scofield Study Bible, NIV, C. I. Scofield, D.E., Oxford University Press, New York, 1967, p. 1183, footnote #1]:

"The expression 'old self' occurs elsewhere (Eph 4:22; Col 3:9) and means all that man was in Adam, both morally and judicially, i.e., the man of old, the corrupt human nature, the inborn tendency to evil in all men. In Rom. 6:6 it is the natural man himself; in Eph 4:22 and Col. 3:9 his ways. Positionally, in the reckoning of God, the 'old self' has been crucified, and the believer is exhorted to make this good in experience, reckoning it to be so by definitely 'taking off' the old self and 'putting on' the new (Col 3:8-14)."

3) THE OLD SELF = THE FORMER WAY OF LIFE WHICH IS CORRUPTED BY ITS DECEIFTUL DESIRES

a) [Compare Eph 4:17-24]:

(v. 17) "So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking.

(v. 18) They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts.

(v. 19) Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, with a continual lust for more.

(v. 20) You, however, did not come to know Christ that way.

(v. 21) Surely you heard of him and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus.

(v. 22) You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires;

(v. 23) to be made new in the attitude of your minds;

(v. 24) and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness."

[BKC, p. 636]:

"4:20-24. In contrast (de) with the 'old man' (vv. 17-19) believers did not come to know (lit., 'learn') Christ that way. Their minds are no longer darkened; their lives are no longer alienated from God; their hearts are no longer hardened and impure. Christ is the Subject (you heard of Him) and the Sphere you were taught in Him) and of a believer's learning. This teaching and learning is in accordance with the truth, because He is hte Truth (John 14:6). The content of this learning is twofold:

(1) A believer has put off the old self which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires (cf. Eph 4:17-19). Self-centered lusts are deceitful because they promise joy but fail to provide it.

(2) He has put on the new self which has been created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness, which is based on truth (v. 24).

This truth contrasts with the deceitfulness of lustful living (cf. vv. 14-15). Believers have been made new in the attitude of their minds; they are no longer futile in their thinking, darkened in their understanding, and ignorant (vv. 18-19). These are not commands, for the construction here (and in the parallel passage in Col 3:9-10) is not imperative. They are facts that believers have learned, as is also seen in Romans 6:2-10 and 2 Corinthians 5:17."

4) THE OLD SELF = LIT, 'THE OLD MAN' = THAT PART OF AN INDIVIDUAL INCLUDING BELIEVERS WHICH CONTROLS THE PRACTICE OF EVIL WHICH HAS BEEN TAKEN OFF

a) [Compare Col 3:9-10]:

(v. 1) "Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.

[The Bible Knowledge Commentary, Walvoord & Zuck Eds., Victor Books, USA, p. 679-680]:

"Since believers have not only died with Christ but have also been raised with Christ (cf. Rom 6:8-10; Col. 2:12-13), they should set their hearts on things above. That is, believers' lives should be dominated by the pattern of heaven, bringing heavenly direction to their earthly duties. 'Set' (zetEitE) means 'to seek or strive for earnestly' (cf. Rev 9:6; 1 Cor 7:27). Fixing their attention decisively toward 'things above' involves centering their lives on the ascended (Eph 4:10), glorfied (John 17:5; Phil 2:9) Christ, Who is seated at the right hand of God (Ps 110:1; Luke 22:69; Acts 2:33; 5:31; Rom 8:34; Eph 1:20; Heb 1:3, 12; 8:1; 10:12; 12:2; 1 Peter 3:22). This is His seat of divine authority because He has defeated the forces of evil and death (Heb 2:14-15).

(v. 2) Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.

(v. 3) For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.

(v. 4) When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.

(v. 5) Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry."

[Notice that believers still have a choice, even after their lives are "hidden with Christ in God.", (v. 3), to put to death or not put to death whatever belongs to their earthly natures, i.e., their sin natures. Hence we must conclude that believers still have the sin nature fully intact and must make a moment to moment choice to put it "to death", i.e., make it inactive in their lives moment to moment.]

(v. 6) Because of these, the wrath of God is coming.

(v. 7) You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived.

(v. 8) But now you must rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips.

(v. 9) Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices

["since you have taken off your old self with its (evil) practices" = infers that a believer has in fact removed from himself the "old self", i.e., the sin nature]

(v. 10) and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.

IX cont.) [Ro 6:4-6 cont.]:

(v. 5) For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall be also in the likeness of His resurrection,

(v. 6) knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, that our body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin"

C) THE BELIEVER WHO UNDERSTANDS THAT HE HAS BECOME UNITED WITH CHRIST IN THE LIKENESS OF HIS DEATH, AND CERTAINLY IN THE LIKENESS OF HIS RESURRECTION KNOWS THAT HIS OLD SELF, THAT WHICH PRODUCES SIN, WAS CRUCIFIED WITH CHRIST, I.E., MADE INACTIVE RELATIVE TO ITS ABSOLUTE CONTROL OVER THE BELIEVER

"For [= Since] we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall be also in the likeness of His resurrection; knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him" =

Verse 6 speaks of another benefit of Holy Spirit baptism which was touched on in Romans chapter five: the benefit of no longer being in Adam and of now being in Christ. Note that the "old man" in verse 6 which is crucified is one's position in Adam and not the sin nature which believer's retain, for crucifixion means termination.

[BKC, p. 462]:

"As a result we know (ginOskontEs suggests experimental or reflective knowing, not intuitive knowledge as in eidotes in v. 9) that our old self was crucified with Him. Literally, the last portion of this sentence is, 'our old man was crucified together, ' obviously with Christ. A believer's 'old man' is the person as he was spiritually before he trusted Christ, when he was still under sin (3:9), powerless and ungodly (5:6), a sinner (5:8), and an enemy of God (5:10). ('Old self' or 'old man' does not refer to the sin nature as such. The Bible does not teach that the sin nature was eradicated at salvation or is ever eradicated in this life [cp 1 Jn 1:, 8, 10]).

The 'old man' was 'crucified' with Christ (cf. 'baptized into His death,' 6:3; and 'united with Him in His death,' v. 5) so that the body of sin might be rendered powerless.

IX cont.) [Ro 6:4-6 cont.]:

(v. 5) For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall be also in the likeness of His resurrection,

(v. 6) knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, that our body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin"

D) THE RESULT OF OUR OLD SELF BEING CRUCIFIED WITH CHRIST IS SO THAT THE BODY OF SIN MIGHT BE RENDERED POWERLESS SO THAT WE SHOULD NO LONGER BE SLAVES TO SIN

"For we know that our old self was crucified with Him so that the body of sin might be rendered powerless, that we should no longer be slaves to sin." =

Since the believer's sin nature has been crucified with Christ, then the body of sin, i.e., the sin nature is rendered "katargEthE" = useless, unproductive - but not annihilated as the verb does not carry this possibility of meaning. This is a verb in the 3rd person singular, aorist tense signifying a completed action. It is in the passive voice indicating that the believer has had the action done to him as opposed to done by him, i.e., done by God Himself. It is also in the subjunctive mood signifying objective possibility, in other words the rendering of the believer's sin nature useless, or unproductive is not absolute and may be reinstated in some manner - which is elaborated upon later in this passage.

The situation is clear that the believer should no longer be a slave to sin because the reigning power of his body of sin, i.e., that intrinsic part of him that compelled him to sin as a matter of lifestyle = the sin nature, has been rendered powerless in its rule over him.

X) [Ro 6:5-7]:

(v. 5) For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall be also in the likeness of His resurrection,

(v. 6) knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, that our body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin.

(v. 7) because anyone who has died has been freed from sin."

[Ro 6:14]:

"For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, [any rules of human conduct relative to salvation] but under [God's sovereign rule of] grace."

"grace" = unmerited favor = Christians are free - without the threat of eternal punishment - to do whatever they please and God in His grace has already covered any wrong doing by what His Son did on the cross for you. Yet in God's sovereign plan of slavery under the grace system of righteousness, none of this wrong doing will be without discipline and loss of rewards and lack of fellowship in heaven, Ref: Heb 12:1-15; Pr 3:11-12; Mt 8:10-12; 22:1-14. ...................So even though you are a Christian under the freedoms of grace, you are still under God's absolute authority which provides that freedom. Grace is a different kind of authority - it is in a sense another kind of slavery condition which provides a tremendous amount of freedom for the slave of God but not without discipline and restraints. So God is permissive of the believer even of those things which are against His perfect will to a point and then comes the discipline - and then comes the lack of rewards and fellowship in heaven. In Romans 6:19, Paul uses the imperfect comparison of slavery to compare an unbeliever's condition to a believer's because all men, due to their indwelling sin natures, (Ro 7:21-23), find it hard to grasp and accept divine viewpoint concepts even believers!

[Ro 6:17-18]:

(v. 17) "But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you wholeheartedly obeyed the form of teaching to which you were entrusted.

(v. 18) You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness."

"This discussion reminded the Apostle Paul of what the grace of God had already accomplished in his readers' lives and he burst forth in praise. Before they responded to the gospel they had been slaves to sin, but they wholeheartedly (lit., 'out from hearts,' thus inwardly and genuinely, not merely externally) obeyed (cf. 'obedience' in 1 Peter 1:2) the form of teaching to which they were entrusted. Hearing the teaching of God's Word, they committed themselves to those truths. That commitment was evidenced by their response to the gospel and their being baptized. The result was that they have been set free from sin and have become slaves (past tense in Gr.) to righteousness (cf. Rom 6:22). This is positional and must be manifested in daily experience, but it demonstrates again that there is no middle ground. Christians are not to give in to sin because they are dead to it and no longer slaves of it. It is totally contrary to God's plan for slaves of righteousness to become enslaved to sin!"

[Compare Jn 8:34]:

"I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave to sin."

[Ro 6:19]:

"I am speaking in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh..." = 'I, Paul, speak to you Roman Christians, i.e., all believers, after the manner of men - in a human form - in a form that because of your weakness of your human sin nature, this is the only way I can get this point across.' If a believer had the possibility of achieving perfect sanctification, (sinless behavior), in his earthly body then Paul would not have written the words in Ro 6:19: "I am speaking in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh". The weakness inherent in a believer which Paul indicates is evident in the believer's inability at times to understand God's Word refers to the indwelling sin nature which inhabits the genetic structure of every cell in all men's bodies - even believers', (especially since Paul is addressing believers here). So Paul says in Ro 6:19 that there are two slaveries that a Christian may choose:

[Ro 6:19 cont.]:

"Just as you used to offer the parts of your body in slavery to impurity and to ever increasing wickedness, so now offer them in slavery to righteousness leading to holiness."

The believer is now under the authority of God the Holy Spirit which gives to the child of God the latitude of obeying righteousness and receive blessing or of disobeying and thereby re-enslaving himself momentarily to the lust patterns of his sin nature which still exists within him, (Ro 6:16, Romans chapter 7), and thus to receive God's discipline, (Heb 12:1-15; Pr 3:11-12), until he confesses to release the discipline, (1 Jn 1:9), and again walks by faith in righteousness energized by his study and obedience to God's Word, (Eph 5:25-26), which is motivated by his love for the Lord Jesus Christ his Savior, (Gal 5:6b). Incidentally the human good that unbelievers and out-of-fellowship, (carnal), believers do is evil in the sight of God - it comes out of one's slavery to the sin nature whether temporary or permanent:

A) [Ro 8:8]:

"Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God."

Believers often volunteer temporarily to be re-enslaved/controlled by their own sin natures, (cp. Ro 6:16, 1 Jn 1:8,10). As a matter of fact, if one were to examine each item of human good that every unbeliever and carnal believer does one would find an element of mental attitude sin such as pride or a sin of omission/commission. Human good is often based on the substitution of one's own 'common sense' human viewpoint efforts for divine viewpoint from Scripture, (Eph 2:10) - something which is always emanating out of one's slavery to the old sin nature. Believers, however, despite appearances and the opinions of others, are still under the absolute control of God the Holy Spirit. So believers do have the latitude to sin and they do sin, (1 Jn 1:8, 10), for they retain their old sin natures which they inherited within their genes, (which are in every cell of their being), from Adam, (Ro 5:12). Christians who are out of fellowship with God - who sin - are immediately under God's discipline, (Heb 12:1-15; Pr 3:11-12).

[Compare Eph 2:8-13]:

(v. 8) '''For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God--

(v. 9) not by works, so that no one can boast.

(v. 10) For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

[Note that believers have become God's workmanship in the sense that they are new creations, new creatures - in Christ Jesus, unique having been placed into the body of Christ, neither Jew nor Gentile, but a third kind of human being who is unique in the sense that he is a part of the body of Christ]

(v. 11) Therefore, remember that formerly you who are Gentiles by birth and called "uncircumcised" by those who call themselves "the circumcision" (that done in the body by the hands of men)--

(v. 12) remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world.

(v. 13) But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ.'''

[Gal 6:12-15]:

(v. 12) "Those who want to make a good impression outwardly are trying to compel you to be circumcised. The only reason they do this is to avoid being persecuted for the cross of Christ.

(v. 13) Not even those who are circumcised obey the law, yet they want you to be circumcised that they may boast about your flesh.

(v. 14) May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.

(v. 15) Neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything; what counts is a new creation."

[Ro 7:21-25]:

(v. 21) "So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me.

(v. 22) For in my inner being I delight in God's law;

["inner being" = a consciousness in the mind of the believer that delights in God's law]

(v. 23) but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members.

(v. 24) What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?

(v. 25) Thanks be to God--through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God's law, but in the sinful nature a slave to the law of sin."

["the law of sin at work within my members"

"So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God's law, but in the sinful nature a slave to the law of sin." =

Since the members of the human body have no capacity in and of themselves to decide to be enslaved to the law of sin, then this activity must come from the individual's mind which controls their actions. which then translates to sinful behavior. Scripture teaches that in the absence of the Spirit's influence, the individual inevitably follows the law of sin which is demonstrated within the body's members. Hence this tendency is described by Paul as "the law of sin at work within my members" and "in the sinful nature [I am] a slave to the law of sin." The law of sin is thus visibly demonstrated "in the members of" the believer's body" as a result of the decision in the mind for the moment to be enslaved to sin and commit sinful acts]

[Eph 3:14-21]:

(v. 14) "For this reason I kneel before the Father,

(v. 15) from whom his whole family in heaven and on earth derives its name.

(v. 16) I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being,

(v. 17) so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love,

["strengthen you with the power through His Spirit in your inner being so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith." = Notice that the Holy Spirit works in the inner being of a believer so that Christ may dwell in the believer's heart, i.e., his mental consciousness.

(In Scripture the heart is equated with the mind )

(v. 17 cont.) so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love,

(v. 18) may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ,

(v. 19) and to know this love that surpasses knowledge--that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

(v. 20) Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us,

(v. 21) to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen."

[1 Pet 3:1-6]:

(v. 1) "Wives, in the same way be submissive to your husbands so that, if any of them do not believe the word, they may be won over without words by the behavior of their wives,

(v. 2) when they see the purity and reverence of your lives.

(v. 3) Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair and the wearing of gold jewelry and fine clothes.

(v. 4) Instead, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God's sight.

["inner self" = notice that the inner self is described here as of "a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God's sight." ]

(v. 5) For this is the way the holy women of the past who put their hope in God used to make themselves beautiful. They were submissive to their own husbands,

(v. 6) like Sarah, who obeyed Abraham and called him her master. You are her daughters if you do what is right and do not give way to fear."