WALKING
IN NEWNESS OF LIFE
The
fact that we are justified by faith without the deeds of the law raises the
question of how we should live. Because the natural mindset is works oriented,
many believers find it hard to conceive of freedom from the law in any terms
other than freedom to sin. Without an ironclad set of rules they struggle to
understand where the line should be drawn. On one hand the Bible warns them not
to seek righteousness by the law, on the other it
condemns them if they sin. The Apostle Paul tells them that they are free from
the law, yet called for the excommunication of one who was unrepentant. Paul
deals with this question in the sixth chapter of his epistle to the Romans.
AN
OVERVIEW
The
message that Paul is trying to get across in this chapter is that it is
possible for us to be good citizens, good neighbors, and honest and upstanding
members of the community without trying to make ourselves righteous by living
according to a list of dos and don’ts (Romans 9:30-32). That is why he never
presents his instructions as a new law or a way to become righteous. And, that
is what those who are works-minded find frustrating. Verse four talks about
walking in newness of life, verse ten about living unto God, verse twelve about
not letting sin reign, and verse nineteen about yielding to righteousness. Yet
there is a good reason why those terms are never distilled down into a set of
rules.
WALKING
BY FAITH
Romans 6:1-7 What shall we
say then? Shall we continue in sin, that
grace may abound? Absolutely not. How shall we, who are dead to sin, continue living
in it? Don’t you know, that all who were baptized into
Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him
through baptism into death: that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the
glory of the Father, even so we should also walk in newness of life. For if we
have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall also continue
together in the likeness of his resurrection: 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. For he who is dead has been freed from sin.
[Comment: In these
verses Paul explains to those at Rome, that when they came to faith in Christ,
their baptism outwardly portrayed the fact that their faith made them partakers
of Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection. He then uses that fact to
introduce and illustrate the concept of walking in "newness of life."
In other words, we are to conduct ourselves as we will after the resurrection,
once the corruption of sin has been removed from our nature (1Corinthians
Romans 6:8-11 Now if we died
with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him: Knowing that since
Christ was raised from the dead he cannot die again; death has no more dominion
over him. For in that he died, he died to sin once for all: but in that he
lives, he lives to God. In the same way regard yourselves as dead to sin, but
alive to God through Jesus Christ our Lord.
[Comment: These
verses tell us that as Christ (having died unto sin) now lives to God, we
should also live to God as if we were dead to sin. In other words we should do
what is right and pure and good, not because we are trying to make ourselves
holy, but because it is the right thing to do.]
Romans 6:12-14 Therefore do
not allow sin to reign in your mortal body, that you should obey its lusts. And
do not yield your members to sin as instruments of unrighteousness: but
yield yourselves to God, as those that are alive from the dead, and yield
your members to God as instruments of righteousness. For sin shall not
have dominion over you: because you are not under the law, but under grace.
[Comment: In these
verses Paul contrasts yielding our body to God as an instrument of
righteousness, with allowing sin (Satan) to have dominion over us. Here, again,
he is not talking about following rules or trying to make ourselves righteous,
but about doing the right thing while trusting in Christ to make us righteous. In
verse fourteen he says that sin has no dominion over us because we are free
from (not under) the law. In contrast, those who are under the law are under
the power of Satan. That statement makes me wonder if those in hell will be
forced to keep the law. At any rate, we know that they will be condemned by
it.]
Romans 6:15-18 What then? shall
we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? Absolutely
not. Don’t you know, that when you yield
yourselves to someone to obey him as servants, you are the servants of the one
you obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness? But
thanks be to God, you who were the slaves of sin, have
obeyed from the heart the form of doctrine that was delivered you. And having
been freed from sin, you became the servants of righteousness.
[Comment: Since
those who seek righteousness by the law are continually trying to excuse their
sin, Verse 15 tells us that God is not going to allow Christ’s suffering and
death be used as an excuse to sin (Hebrews 10:29, James 4:4). Verse 16 then
warns those who would sin willfully (as did David in the matter of Uriah) that they are opening themselves up to satanic
influence, the end of which is death. Nevertheless, the obedience called for,
is not the obedience of the Pharisee but the obedience of the Publican – namely
the godly sorrow that leads us to admit our sin and look to Christ for mercy
(Luke 18:13, 2 Corinthians 7:10).]
Romans 2:19-23 I am being frank with you because of
the weakness of the flesh: for as you have yielded your members as slaves to
uncleanness and to iniquity leading to more iniquity; even so now yield your
members as servants to righteousness unto sanctification. For when you were the
slaves of sin, you were free from righteousness. Yet what benefit did you get
out of those things that you are now ashamed of? for
those things result in death. But now having
been freed from sin, and become servants of God, you have your fruit unto
holiness, and the result is everlasting life. For the wages of sin is
death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our
Lord.
[Comment: In these
verses Paul contrasts the fruits of evil behavior with the fruits of good
behavior. In verse twenty-one he points out that evil behavior brings shame and
death. Yet instead of saying that good behavior brings life, he points out that
"being made free from sin" (i.e. saved), we "have" eternal
life, and right behavior is the fruit (or by product) of our salvation. Then,
in order to make it clear that salvation is a gift, not something we earn, he
sums up what he has said with the words, "For the wages of sin is death;
but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord."]
SOME
ADDITIONAL THOUGHTS
As
I pointed out before, it is very hard to describe how a saved person should
behave, without saying something that will be twisted and distorted by those
who lack understanding. In chapter eight, Paul contrasts being led by the
Spirit with being carnally minded, and his letter to the Galatians makes it
clear that to be led by the Spirit is to have the fruits of the Spirit (compare
Romans 8:1-10 with Galatians 5:18-25). Nevertheless, those who lack
understanding have turned the "leading of the Spirit" into a new law
that will bring dire consequences if not obeyed.
If
Paul simply wanted to give us a set of rules, he could have told us to keep the
commandments. However, he wants us to trust in Christ for righteousness, not
works. Therefore, while he portrays deference to the commandments as love, he
makes it clear that obedience to those commandments is not what makes us
righteous (Romans
While
Pharisees put the emphasis on outward appearance, and on trying to impress men
with their piety, we need to put the emphasis on the heart (1Samuel 16:7,
Isaiah 66:2). Those who come to faith need understand what it means to
rationalize sin and why we should not do it (Proverbs 28:13, 1John 1:9). They
need to know how to recognize their sin and see themselves as God sees them, so
that they are not blinded to their own sin by the deceitfulness of their own
heart (Isaiah 64:6, Jeremiah 17:9). And, they need to understand the importance
of having a humble heart and tender conscience before God (Psalm 51:17, Psalm
25:14).
CONCLUSION
As
long as someone thinks that the law will make them righteous, they will see
freedom from the law as the freedom to sin. For that reason, it is only as we
come to see ourselves as God sees us – and know that even our righteousness is
as filthy rags – that we can see freedom from the law as the freedom to be
righteous (Romans 7:18, Isaiah 64:6). Like Abraham, we should believe that
righteousness is ours through faith in God's promise, and, trusting in that
righteousness, walk in a clean conscience before God.
Gary Ray Branscome