The Book Of ROMANS.....A Systematic Teaching

Romans 5:15.............

NOW WE COME TO THE HEADSHIP OF CHRIST!

"But not as the offence, so also is the free gift. For if through the offence of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many."
We have MUCH MORE in Christ. MUCH MORE than in ADAM! Today we are looking for something far greater than the Garden of Eden. The writer of Hebrews says in 11:13............
"These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth."

Paul says that the free gift, Jesus' choice, is not like Adam's choice! What is the free gift?
It is the action Christ took by dying in our place for our sin on the cross. The free gift brings salvation from death, rescue from the wrath of God, in judgment on sin = The Gospel!

Adam's action brought death to ALL people. Jesus' action brought the grace of God to all who will receive Him by faith. This free gift of God's grace brings the opportunity for life, for salvation, to everyone. All who trust in Christ will receive this gift, rather than facing death because of Adam's introduction of sin into the world.

Headship of Adam = Sin and death.
Headship of Christ = Life in heaven.
 
Romans 5:16...............
"And not as it was by one that sinned, so is the gift: for the judgment was by one to condemnation, but the free gift is of many offences unto justification."
Adam, on the one hand, introduced sin into a world that knew no sin. He was the first to break God's command. That choice caused all born after him to be born into sin. In response, all people lived under judgment for their sin and faced God's condemnation.

Jesus, born as a man thousands of years later after many, many had sinned and broken God's law, chose to become the source of God's free gift of grace. He did this by dying on the cross to pay for human sin. His one action brought justification from God for everyone who receives it by faith.

Adam, by sinning, brought death and condemnation to all.
Jesus, by not sinning and then dying, brought justification to all who believe. This "justification" is a declaration, as if in a courtroom setting. No person is actually righteous (Romans 3:10, 23), but Christ's sacrificial death pays our penalty, allowing us to have peace with God (Romans 5:1).

I have been told by many that this is a difficult section in the Word of God. I recognize that! To simplify this, all this section means is......
One act of DISOBEDIENCE plunged the entire human race into SIN and death!
Then one act of OBDEDIENCE allowed the entire human race to be saved from death and unto life.
 
Romans 5:17.............
"For if by one man's offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.)"

Death rules as the king! DEATH came to the throne by one man, Adam who committed only ONE offense, that being original sin, the ONE act that involved the human race.

Here, Paul represents another kingdom that is superior to that of the kingdom of death. It is the kingdom of LIFE!

It is offered to the subjects of the kingdom of death through the grace of God. All man has to do is accept the gift of God. The KING of this kingdom is Jesus Christ. The gift comes through Him.

Now THINK for a moment. At Christmas time there is a package - GIFT with your name on it under the tree. What must happen for you to realize that gift???? YOU must receive it. YOU must reach out, pick it up and open it and then it is yours.
What happens if you do not receive that gift???? It just sits there !!! It is a box with a bow!

Salvation is just like that gift. God makes is available to YOU but YOU must receive it!
 
Romans 5:18...........
"Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life."

This is the principle of the IMPUTAION of sin and the IMPUTATION of righteousness. The 1st came through ADAM and the 2nd came through Christ. The 1st was of death and the 2nd was for Life!

Folks....you have just been doctrinally introduced to the DOCTRINE OF FEDERAL HEADSHIP and it is the key to understanding what YOU are.........A SINNER save by Grace!

One trespass, one sin, led to the condemnation of all men. This was Adam's sin in breaking God's command not to eat from one specific tree. In doing so, he introduced sin and death to the world, where they took root in every person to follow. Because all sinned, all faced God's judgment and the same fate: condemnation.

By contrast, though, one "act of righteousness" leads to the opportunity for justification for every person in the world. This act of righteousness was Jesus' death on the cross to pay for human sin. Those who, by faith, receive this free gift of God's grace are declared righteous by God. They are justified. This is the case Paul has been making throughout Romans.

Some read the words "for all men" here to mean that all people are justified by Christ's death on the cross no matter what. In other words, even faith in Christ is not required to be saved from God's wrath; all people will simply find themselves justified and saved, no matter what they do or believe. This is known as "universalism," but it cannot be reconciled with what Paul teaches throughout Romans and throughout the New Testament. Even in the previous verse, Paul insists that God's abundant grace is specifically for those who receive it, by faith.
 
Major said:
Some read the words "for all men" here to mean that all people are justified by Christ's death on the cross no matter what. In other words, even faith in Christ is not required to be saved from God's wrath; all people will simply find themselves justified and saved, no matter what they do or believe. This is known as "universalism," but it cannot be reconciled with what Paul teaches throughout Romans and throughout the New Testament. Even in the previous verse, Paul insists that God's abundant grace is specifically for those who receive it, by faith.
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Nor can it be reconciled with John's vision...

Revelation 20:12-15 ESV
And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done. [13] And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done. [14] Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. [15] And if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.
 
crossnote said:
Nor can it be reconciled with John's vision...

Revelation 20:12-15 ESV
And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done. [13] And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done. [14] Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. [15] And if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.
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Yes sir. Universalism is worse than a False teaching.

All the cults and "isms" teach a false god and are false because of it. But in universalist theology, it really doesn’t matter. Why? Because according to universalism, in the afterlife, people will come to a true knowledge of God and repent and be saved. So, even if they are wrong now, they will be right later. So, the need to preach and teach the true God is greatly reduced. Again, this is dangerous.

Satan wants everyone to accept Christ and be saved. YES HE DOES..........but not today, later, tomorrow, next Sunday!

They are advocating a false god along with their universalist teachings, the very universalist teaching that appeals to people because it teaches a God of infinite love and grace.

To deny the Trinity is to deny the true God. To deny that Jesus is God in flesh is to deny the true Christ. This is incredibly dangerous because false gods do not save, only the True and Living God saves! But then, in universalism, it doesn’t matter what you believe now. You’ll “repent” later in the after-life and come to the true knowledge of God. Sorry. But that is not what the Bible teaches.
 
Major said:
Yes sir. Universalism is worse than a False teaching.

All the cults and "isms" teach a false god and are false because of it. But in universalist theology, it really doesn’t matter. Why? Because according to universalism, in the afterlife, people will come to a true knowledge of God and repent and be saved. So, even if they are wrong now, they will be right later. So, the need to preach and teach the true God is greatly reduced. Again, this is dangerous.

Satan wants everyone to accept Christ and be saved. YES HE DOES..........but not today, later, tomorrow, next Sunday!

They are advocating a false god along with their universalist teachings, the very universalist teaching that appeals to people because it teaches a God of infinite love and grace.

To deny the Trinity is to deny the true God. To deny that Jesus is God in flesh is to deny the true Christ. This is incredibly dangerous because false gods do not save, only the True and Living God saves! But then, in universalism, it doesn’t matter what you believe now. You’ll “repent” later in the after-life and come to the true knowledge of God. Sorry. But that is not what the Bible teaches.
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But hey, doctrine doesn't matter! <----(tongue in cheek)
 
Romans 5:19..........
"For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous."
Here Paul sums up his argument and presentation of Federal Headship........Adams ONE act made us all sinners----Christ's ONE act makes redemption possible.

One man broke us and One man fixed us!

Adam acted out of disobedience and Jesus acted in obedience!

Jesus' act of obedience, then, ensured that many would be made righteous through their faith in Him and by God's abundant grace.
 
Romans 5:20...........
"Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound:"
So what happened when God gave the law to Moses? How did that change this relationship between human sin and God?

It made everything much, much worse, exactly as God intended. Once God gave actual commands about what to do and what not to do in this life, human beings moved from simply being sinners by nature to becoming actual lawbreakers. The existence of God's commands criminalized their sin—our sin—at a new level. Now we were all living in blatant, open rebellion.

In that sense, sin increased.

That does not mean that people started sinning in greater volume, but it's that our sin began to be counted against us as individual acts of rebellion against the will of God. It became an even more overt disobedience to Him. In fact, as Paul reveals in a startling statement, that's one reason God gave the law to the Israelites. He wanted to increase the trespass, the lawbreaking!
He wanted it to be deadly clear just how sinful human beings were.

Paul follows that with another extraordinary statement, however. As human sin increased, grace "super-increased."

God's grace abounded even more. This makes logical sense and yet it is still astounding to us. God's grace—giving good to us when we have earned bad—cannot be overwhelmed by our own sinfulness. The more we sin, the more grace God gives.

In the next chapter, Paul will deal with a common abuse of that idea:............
the claim that sin is actually good, since it provides God more opportunity to show grace.
 
Romans 5:21...........
"That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord."

Sin brings death. Human beings cannot escape our own sin nature no matter how badly we want to. You will or have had well meaning people tell you that when we get saved, that sin nature is defeated and now we have victory! Do yourself a favor and pay attention to an old fashioned Bible believer, we never get rid of our sin nature till the day we die!

In ourselves, we will always continue to sin. It rules over us, and it leads to death.

However, Paul has just written that as sin increases, God's grace increases even more. In other words, sin cannot grow past God's capacity to give good to those who deserve His angry judgment instead. Paul concludes that God's grace is the greater ruler. It reigns over sin and death. How? He declares righteous all of us sinners who, by faith, receive his grace-gift of Jesus' death for our sin on the cross.

With death defeated, those who are in Christ will live forever. Grace reigns through righteousness leading to eternal life. But this eternal life is found only through Jesus Christ our Lord. There is no other way to escape the reign of sin and death.

Starting with the next verse, Paul will counter a common and unfortunate response to this idea of abundant grace. Some see God's grace as a license to sin, which is not what God intended, nor what Paul is teaching. The overflowing mercy of God is not a reason to sin, just so that His grace can increase.
 
WE COME NOW TO CHAPTER NUMBER SIX.

The theme here will be TWO more Doctrinal positions that we all need to understand.

#1. POSITIONAL SANTIFICALTION.
#2. PRACTICAL SANTIFICATION.

We have explained what Justification is. It is actually an ACT! Justification took place at the moment you accepted Christ by faith. Right then, you were declared NOT GUILITY by God. Your sin was paid for and the guilt of that sin was removed. Then God began a work in you and that work will continue until you die. That is called SANTIFICATION!

Simply said........you must be JUSTIFIED and then you begin the process of being SANCTIFIED! Justification is then the means and Sanctification is the end.

Another thought is that Justification removes the GUILT and PENALTY of your sin and SANTIFICATION removes the GROWTH and the POWER of sin.

So then lets consider POSITIONAL SANTIFICALTION

Verse #1..............
"What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?"
As you can see........Paul is being argumentative.

Paul begins this chapter by posing a question about the implications of the statements that ended chapter 5. There, he wrote that where sin increased, God's grace "super-increased." That is, as sin increased, so did God's grace abound to cover the sin of all those who trusted in Christ's death to cover their sin. We literally cannot out-sin the grace of God.

What does that mean, though, for those who have been reconciled to God through faith in Christ?

What are Christians supposed to do and think about sin now that we are Christians? Do we as Christians STOP SINNING??????

As Paul asks here, should we just keep sinning so that God's grace can just keep increasing? This seems to have been a common criticism of Paul's teaching, as it is one he refutes often in his writings (Romans 3:8; 2 Corinthians 5:17; Galatians 5:19–24).

It's a frequent charge against Christianity, even today, suggesting that the gospel is really just a license to sin. In the following verse, Paul will answer this slanderous charge with an emphatic "no!"
 
Romans 6:2.............
"God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein".
The question of, should we just keep sinning now that we are believers in Jesus in order to keep increasing God's grace?

He answers here with, "By no means!" This is the same use of the Greek phrase mē genoito that Paul often uses in response to posing ridiculous questions as a teaching tool. In short, Christians should not keep sinning to increase the grace of God. In fact, Christians should not keep sinning willfully and intentionally, at all. Elsewhere in Scripture, we're given more details on why a life of persistent, willful sin is actually inconsistent with those who have truly been saved in Galatians 5:19–24 and 1 John 3:6–9.

Paul responds to this question with another question: How can people who died to sin still live in it?

This raises a whole new aspect of Paul's gospel message. As he will show in upcoming verses, all people who come to God in faith, believing in Christ's death in their place on the cross to pay for their sin, are said to have "died with Christ" in a sense. More specifically, we are said to have died to sin in that moment.

Paul will expand this thought, but the idea is this: Those who are not in Christ live under the rule of sin. They cannot avoid sinning. It is the only option on the menu. Christ's death on the cross to pay for our sin, however, broke sin's rule over our lives. We now have the power, in Christ, to stop sinning. We have not lost our desire to sin, however.

Now, we have with us today what I will call SUPER DUPER SAINTS! They have been taught and now believe that they have reached an exalted plane of existence where they do not sin. Many call this the "VICTORIOUS LIFE"! It is a teaching that is also referred to as the Keswick movement.
It comes from John Wesley who taught Christian perfectionism, which meant that if a Christian had a second work of grace, he could avoid all known, intentional sins.

This emphasis on a second, post-salvation experience corresponds with the Pentecostal idea of the “baptism” of the Spirit. Some Keswick teachers would even say that sinless perfection is possible after one receives the “second blessing.”

This idea of sinless perfection movement has some commendable points—
1. an emphasis on the lordship of Christ
2. and personal holiness, discipleship,
3 and a promotion of missionary activity.
4. And some historic evangelistic efforts have begun at Keswick Conventions.

However, the Keswick theology’s insistence on a “second blessing,” its hierarchy of “sanctified” Christians vs. those who are “only justified,” and its bent toward the unbiblical doctrine of entire sanctification are causes of concern and in my opinion are not Biblical!
 
This goes along with what Jesus taught when He said you can't serve two masters. Either you belong to Christ or you do not. If you claim to be a child of God, then there should be a family resemblance.
 
Romans 6:3.............
"Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?

Now pay attention..........THERE IS NO WATER FOUND IN THIS SCRIPTURE!

Here lately we have seen those who are promoting the idea that a believer MUST BR baptized in water to be saved!
Those that say that are well meaning but highly unbiblical! Water n=baptism is NOT the focus here in any way!

"Know ye not" ........The implication is that Paul is dealing with fundamental concepts that every Christians should know.
In other words, what Paul is saying here should not be a surprise!!!!!

Allow me to explain this to you. The idea behind the ancient Greek word for baptized is “to immerse or overwhelm something.”

Picture language!!!! The Bible uses this idea of being baptized into something in several different ways. When a person is baptized in water, they are immersed or covered over with water.

When they are baptized with the Holy Spirit as seen in Matthew 3:11, Acts 1:5 for example, they are “immersed” or “covered over” with the Holy Spirit.

When they are baptized with suffering as seen in Mark 10:39, they are “immersed” or “covered over” with suffering.
Here, Paul refers to being baptized – “immersed” or “covered over” – in Christ Jesus.

That simply means that water baptism (being baptized into Christ) is a dramatization or “acting out” or a "Picture" of the believer’s “immersion” or identification with Jesus in His death and resurrection.

Allow me to get personal here for you! 2000 years ago Jesus died on the cross on Golgotha. When I stood there looking at what had taken place I knew what I had already accepted When He did what He did.......He took Major, and YOU there with Him. YOU and I were guilty - HE WAS INNOCENT! YOUR sin and MY sin placed Him on that cross and when we accept Jesus as the Christ we then IDENTIFIED ourselves with Him which means we were BAPTIZED INTO CHRIST!
 
Romans 6:4............
"Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life."
Now do not take this the wrong way. Those of you reading this may have never considered what you are reading. YES.....I am sure that you have sat and heard preachers preach sermon after sermon on these wonderful words, but have you in all honesty READ the literal words and considered their intense meaning to YOU! Maybe you have and if that is the case, God bless you! For those of you who have never taken the DEEP dive into theological Christian teaching.........I do hope that this teaching is a blessing to you.

OK.....back to verse #4. Paul continues to build on the idea of going under the water as a picture of being buried and coming up from the water as a picture of rising from the dead.

Again....this is about IDENTIFICATION!

Of course, baptism also has the association of cleansing, but that isn’t particularly relevant to Paul’s point here. The Jewish faith had always used "Baptism". In the book of Leviticus, God instructs Jews to cleanse themselves from ritual impurities, contracted through such acts as touching a corpse or a leper. Washing primarily fulfilled the legal requirements of ritual purity so that Jews could sacrifice at the Temple. Later, as "God-fearers" or "righteous" Gentiles expressed their desire to convert to Judaism, priests broadened the rite's meaning, and along with circumcision, performed water baptism as a sign of the covenant given to Abraham.

In this regard, baptism is important as an illustration of spiritual reality, but it does not make that reality come to pass. If someone has not spiritually died and risen with Jesus, all the baptisms in the world will not accomplish it for them.

But Paul’s point is clear: something dramatic and life changing happened in the life of the believer. You can’t die and rise again without it changing your life. The believer has a real (although spiritual) death and resurrection with Jesus Christ.

Now some people use 1 Peter 3:21 to support the idea that water baptism is an essential to be saved...........
"The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ".

But does that say water baptism is an essential to salvation???? NO IT DOES NOT. Correct Bible hermeneutics and CONTEXT gives us the correct understanding here.

In the preceeding verses of 1 Peter 3 he talks about the EIGHT souls saved in the Ark. They went through the waters of judgment in the Ark. The people in the water were those outside of the Ark and they drowned and died. The 8 people in the Ark did not get wet at all!!!!
Yet....Peter says that they were saved by BAPTISM! There is the problem without the Holy Spirit to teach us!

In this example by Peter, the word BAPTISM has nothing to do with water but in fact means IDENTIFICATION! They were identified with the Ark! They had believed God and they went into the Ark as He commanded them. God saw that boat floating ON the water and those IN the boat were saved.

Watch this............God does not save today with a boat. Today, God sees Jesus Christ His Son and He does not see ME! That is because I AM IN CHRIST! I have identified with Christ and when God looks at Me He sees the Lord Jesus Christ! He is my Ark today! We died with Him and we were raised with Him and we are joined to Him.

THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT FOLKS! DON'T MISS THIS. IF YOU DO YOU WILL MISS OUT ON ONE OF THE GREATEST BLESSINGS AND TRUTHS IN THE CHRISTIAN LIFE!

Now, if we were sitting in a room or an auditorium, there would be people all over the room shouting AMEN right now!
 
Romans 6:5...........
"For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection:".

"PLANTED TOGETHER" = United !

Paul just made a remarkable statement in verse #4.

Those who come to God through faith in Christ experience rebirth on a spiritual level. This also exactly what Jesus was trying to get across to Nicodemus...."You must be born again", Through the Holy Spirit. God responds to our faith in Christ by causing us to die with Christ, spiritually, and to be buried in that same spiritual sense. Then we are raised to new spiritual life as He was raised to a new physical life by the Father.

Paul means for us to understand that we are newly made alive, spiritually, in Christ. That's not all, though. This verse says that since we have been united with Christ in a spiritual death like this, we will also be united with Him in a physical resurrection like the one He experienced. In other words, we will also come back to life after we die physically instead of staying in the grave which is recorded in 2 Corinthians 4:14.

This close union is both in His death and in His resurrection. God has both experiences for us. Paul expressed a similar idea for his own life in Philippians 3:10-11...........
" that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead."

Some are all too ready to be united together in the glory of resurrection, but are unwilling to be united together in His death.

Certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection means that our participation in the death of Jesus makes our participation in His resurrection certain.

It is too easy for some Christians to focus solely on the “crucified life,” failing to see that it is a part (and an essential part) of a bigger picture: preparation for resurrection life.
 
Romans 6:6...........
"Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin."

"Old Man" = the sin nature!

Be very careful here!!!!! Many have misunderstood this passage and have worked to say that the Sin Nature is dead in those who are saved. We don’t lose our sin nature once we receive Christ. The Bible says that sin remains in us and that a struggle with that old nature will continue as long as we are in this world. We will se that manifested in chapter #7!

Paul here writes that in addition to being "born again" we also experienced a crucifixion. Our "old self," the one that existed in sin and self-reliance before we were in Christ, was spiritually crucified in the same way that Christ was physically crucified on the cross.
In response to our faith, God mysteriously, powerfully put to death our old self that was under the rule and power of sin.

Paul pictures sin as having a body, as an entity that controlled us before we were in Christ and that is exactly what it did.
Now that sin's body has been removed in the spiritual crucifixion of our old self, however, sin is not in charge of us any longer. We were slaves to sin, and we have now been freed from its power and authority in our lives. That means we do not have to choose to sin any longer!

However..........there is not a person living or anyone reading these words who is not tempted to sin. It is a struggle that we all deal with every day of our lives. BUT.......because we have the Holy Spirit in us we can say NO! Not today!

The fact that we think about doing something we should not do proves that the sin nature is still with us. The fact that we can say NO.......
proves that Holy Spirit is empowering us to walk away. To Choose the good thing and not give in to the sin thing!
 
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Romans 6:7..........
"For he that is dead is freed from sin."
The person who dies is declared righteous from sin. He is acquitted. That is his POSITION !

Those who are not in Christ live under the control of sin. They are compelled to sin, to serve self in all the ways that are against God's direction for us. When someone comes to God by faith in Christ, however, that person actually experiences a spiritual death. Specifically, their "old self" is spiritually crucified, as Christ was physically crucified. The slave-driver of sin is done away with in that crucifixion. That person is literally freed from the power of sin to control his or her life.

So Paul writes in this verse that one who has died in this way, being spiritually crucified with Christ, has been set free from sin. Sin is not in charge of our lives any longer. It can no longer compel us to do it our way instead of God's way.

It will become clear in the following verses that we have not lost our desire to sin, but it no longer controls us. Now if we sin, we are simply giving in to temptations and old habits.
 
Romans 6:8............
"Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him:"
"IF" = SINCE!
If we died with Christ, which we did by accepting HIs work for us, we believe that we shall also be living with Him both here and hereafter! We share His resurrection life today and we will be raised from the dead someday.

Because of our faith in Jesus as the Christ of God, we are made alive spiritually!

I believe that God intends for us to live this new spiritual life He has given to us with Christ, and we definitely look forward to the day we will be physically brought back to life to spend eternity with Christ.
 
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