Monday, August 26, 2013

Following Paul's Arguments

DECLARATIVE STATEMENT (frequently misunderstood and misinterpreted): "The Law came in so that the transgression would increase; but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, so that, as sin reigned in death, even so grace would reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." (Romans 5:20-21)
RHETORICAL QUESTION: "What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase?" (Romans 6:1)
STRONG DENIAL: "God forbid!" (Romans 6:2)
EXPLANATION OF THE STATEMENT: "How shall we who died to sin still live in it? Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin; for he who has died is freed from sin. Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, is never to die again; death no longer is master over Him. For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its lusts, and do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness; but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law but under grace." (Romans 6:2-14)

DECLARATIVE STATEMENT (frequently misunderstood and misinterpreted): "For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law but under grace." (Romans 6:14)
RHETORICAL QUESTION: "Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace?" (Romans 6:15)
STRONG DENIAL: "God forbid!" (Romans 6:15)
EXPLANATION OF THE STATEMENT: "Do you not know that when you present yourselves to someone as slaves for obedience, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin resulting in death, or of obedience resulting in righteousness? But thanks be to God that though you were slaves of sin, you became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching to which you were committed, and having been freed from sin, you became slaves of righteousness. I am speaking in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. For just as you presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness, resulting in further lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness, resulting in sanctification. For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. Therefore what benefit were you then deriving from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the outcome of those things is death. But now having been freed from sin and enslaved to God, you derive your benefit, resulting in sanctification, and the outcome, eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Or do you not know, brethren (for I am speaking to those who know the law), that the law has jurisdiction over a person as long as he lives? For the married woman is bound by law to her husband while he is living; but if her husband dies, she is released from the law concerning the husband. So then, if while her husband is living she is joined to another man, she shall be called an adulteress; but if her husband dies, she is free from the law, so that she is not an adulteress though she is joined to another man. Therefore, my brethren, you also were made to die to the Law through the body of Christ, so that you might be joined to another, to Him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God. For while we were in the flesh, the sinful passions, which were aroused by the Law, were at work in the members of our body to bear fruit for death. But now we have been released from the Law, having died to that by which we were bound, so that we serve in newness of the Spirit and not in oldness of the letter." (Romans 6:16-7:6)

DECLARATIVE STATEMENT (frequently misunderstood and misinterpreted): "For while we were in the flesh, the sinful passions, which were aroused by the Law, were at work in the members of our body to bear fruit for death." (Romans 7:5)
RHETORICAL QUESTION: "What shall we say then? Is the Law sin?" (Romans 7:7)
STRONG DENIAL: "God forbid!" (Romans 7:7)
EXPLANATION OF THE STATEMENT: "On the contrary, I would not have come to know sin except through the Law; for I would not have known about coveting if the Law had not said, 'YOU SHALL NOT COVET.' But sin, taking opportunity through the commandment, produced in me coveting of every kind; for apart from the Law sin is dead. I was once alive apart from the Law; but when the commandment came, sin became alive and I died; and this commandment, which was to result in life, proved to result in death for me; for sin, taking an opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through it killed me. So then, the Law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good." (Romans 7:7-12)

DECLARATIVE STATEMENT (frequently misunderstood and misinterpreted): "for sin, taking an opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through it killed me." (Romans 7:11)
RHETORICAL QUESTION: "Therefore did that which is good become a cause of death for me?" (Romans 7:13)
STRONG DENIAL: "God forbid!" (Romans 7:13)
EXPLANATION OF THE STATEMENT: "Rather it was sin, in order that it might be shown to be sin by effecting my death through that which is good, so that through the commandment sin would become utterly sinful. For we know that the Law is spiritual, but I am of flesh, sold into bondage to sin. For what I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate. But if I do the very thing I do not want to do, I agree with the Law, confessing that the Law is good. So now, no longer am I the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me. For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not. For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want. But if I am doing the very thing I do not want, I am no longer the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me. I find then the principle that evil is present in me, the one who wants to do good. For I joyfully concur with the law of God in the inner man, but I see a different law in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin which is in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, on the one hand I myself with my mind am serving the law of God, but on the other, with my flesh the law of sin. Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, so that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. For those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace, because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so, and those who are in the flesh cannot please God. However, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him." (Romans 7:13-8:9)

Context, context, context, brothers and sisters! Our personal experiences must never interpret Scripture. Paul was not addressing whether Christians will sin or not. Romans 7:14-25 has nothing to do with the believer. The context informs us of as much, and an examination of the Greek words used solidifies that fact beyond the shadow of a doubt. Typically, those who want to hold to Romans 7:14-25 speaking of whether Christians will sin or not do so in order to find excuses for their sin. They do not do so from an honest, exegetical study of the passages and context (immediate, surrounding, and canonical), because such will not support them.

Paul makes four declarative statements, realizes that people are going to misunderstand what he has just said, asks a rhetorical question of them, provides a strong denial, and then continues on with an explanation to answer his initial statement. Paul is following a pattern here. He does not answer his rhetorical question in Romans 7:13 with the remainder of verse 13 and then switch gears to address something that has nothing to do with the course he has set, only to return to it again with chapter 8. Forcing that kind of interpretation upon the text is called eisegesis; it is reading into the text what the individual wants to get out of it.

If you understand what Paul is getting at with Romans 7:7-12, then you will have no problem whatsoever understanding the statements made in Romans 7:15 and 7:19. When you examine the Greek words used in these two verses, and the fact they are used in reverse order from each other, it becomes even more apparent what is actually being said and what it applies to. The context of Romans 7:14-25 is first found in Romans 7:7-12, and then in Romans 7:13-8:9. The surrounding context outside of Romans 7:7-25 contradicts the false notion that Romans 7:14-25 is speaking about the Christian's struggle with sin. The passage has nothing to do with that and is not speaking about it. Everything else Paul wrote (as well as everywhere else in Scripture) contradicts such a false notion, too. Your feelings and opinions do not matter here. Facts trump feelings and opinions every time. Everyone can have their own opinion about something, but once fact enters and comes into play, it is no longer an opinion and any opinion contrary to the fact is in error. It is as simple as that.

Paul said, "I would not have come to know sin except through the Law; for I would not have known about coveting if the Law had not said, 'YOU SHALL NOT COVET.' But sin, taking opportunity through the commandment, produced in me coveting of every kind; for apart from the Law sin is dead" (Romans 7:7-8). So, the Law said, "Do not covet," but all Paul could do, in trying to obey the Law, was covet. So when Paul says, "for I am not practicing what I would like to do [not coveting], but I am doing the very thing I hate [coveting]" (Romans 7:15), and "For the good that I want [not coveting], I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want [coveting]" (Romans 7:19), it becomes apparent what he is speaking about. He is talking about a man under the conviction of the Law, because a man free from the Law (Romans 8:2) and dead to sin (Romans 6:11) cannot live the life expressed in Romans 7:14-25 and especially by verses 15 and 19. It is impossible! In verse 15, the two Greek words are found in this order: prasso and poieo. In verse 19, the two Greek words are found in the reverse: poieo and prasso. Poieo is to purpose to do something. Prasso is to habitually practice something. So in verse 15, Paul said, "I am not habitually practicing what I would like to do, but I am purposing to do the very thing I hate." In verse 19, Paul said the complete reverse: "For the good that I want, I do not purpose to do, but I habitually practice the very evil that I do not want." In other words, a combination of the statements made in both verses is this: "I am not habitually practicing what I would like to do, but I habitually practice the very evil that I do not want." This is not a Christian!

Brothers and sisters, stow your feelings and opinions and read/study the Bible for what it actually says. Forget your pre-suppositions, forget how you have been raised, forget what you have been taught, and allow Scripture to speak for itself through the teachings of the Holy Spirit. Do not claim the Holy Spirit is teaching you something that is contrary and contradictory to what the Scriptures actually say, because then you are making the Holy Spirit out to be schizophrenic. The Holy Spirit has taught you no such things. You are attributing your own pre-suppositions, feelings, opinions, how you were raised, what you were taught, and what you want to find in the Scriptures to the Holy Spirit. Everybody makes the same claim, and all these claims cannot be true simultaneously. All can be wrong, but only one can be true. Most people attributing things to the Holy Spirit are liars and are self-deceived. Leave yourself at the door and honestly seek for the Holy Spirit to teach you the truths of God's Word. Only when you are entirely open to the possibility that you could be wrong and are willing to conform to the truth will that truth be revealed to you. For example: if you want to believe you evolved from a monkey in contradiction to the evidence, then what would be the point in the Holy Spirit trying to teach you the truth when you have already made your mind up and are unwilling to admit your errors and allow for corrections? The Holy Spirit does not convict/convince two believers of two contrary and contradictory things. Either one of you is wrong and the other is right, or both of you are wrong; but you cannot both be right. The Holy Spirit wants to teach all of us, but most people close themselves off from His desire to teach them. They are too stubborn and proud to admit their errors and allow for change.

Just because all the commentaries agree does not make them right. The works of men are not infallible. Preachers and theologians are not infallible. Only the Word of God is infallible: all the time, every time. If you honestly study something in depth and all the commentaries disagree with you, it does not mean they are right and you are wrong, but it also does not mean you are right and they are wrong. It depends on much. I do not agree on the assessment most commentaries make on Romans 7:14-25, and I do not agree on the assessment most commentaries make on Galatians 6:6. In both cases the majority are wrong. I am sorry, but that is the reality. No matter how godly you are, you can arrive at wrong conclusions in your studies if you are not extremely careful, and this applies to the great, godly men of the past, too. You have to pay very close attention to what is being said, and you have to compare Scripture with Scripture and let Scripture be its own best interpreter. Remember that the English translation is just that—a translation. It is not perfect—in any of the versions. Not even the KJV.

When you are going to study the Word of God, leave yourself and all your baggage—your pre-suppositions, feelings, opinions, ideas, how you were raised, and what you were taught—at the door. If you want to see what happens when you do not do this, read Ezekiel 14:4. Read the passage at hand—in context—and compare it with the rest of Scripture. Re-read it several times and seek—honestly—for the Holy Spirit to reveal its true meaning. You cannot make heads nor tails out of any passage of Scripture apart from the Holy Spirit. He must be your Guide. When you do not leave yourself at the door with all your baggage, you push the Holy Spirit aside and make yourself and your own "intuition" your guide. Do not blame the Holy Spirit for something that is entirely your fault. Be like the Bereans. 2 Timothy 2:15 has never been more true: "Study to show yourself approved unto God, a workman that needs not be ashamed, rightly dividing the Word of truth."