Rightly Dividing the Word of Truth Week 34

Romans chapters 6-7 give us clear teaching concerning our relationship to sin after we have been saved by grace through faith as laid out in chapters 4-5.  We learn an important principle: Before you are saved, you are alive to the world, but dead to God, After you are saved you are alive to God, and dead to the world.  Before salvation we have no choice but to follow the cravings of our flesh through the lust of the flesh – the desire for passion, the lust of the eyes – the desire for possessions, and the pride of life – the desire for power, as described in 1 John 2:15-17.  But, after we are saved, we have the power of choice, of whether we will yield to the flesh, or yield to the Holy Spirit within us, as a new man, and defeat the cravings of the 13 manifestations of a rebellious heart (Mark 7:21-23), or the 18 works of the flesh described in Romans 1:29-32 and Galatians 5:19-21.  Romans 6:16 sums up the previous 15 verses — Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?

Even though we are dead to sin, the flesh continually pulls us back into what we once were — without strength and ungodly sinners (Romans 5:6,8)!  Paul sums up our state in chapter 7, declaring that, as a born again child of God with the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, and being sealed unto the day of redemption, that it is no longer us as saved people, but sin that dwells in us, because of the unredeemable, without rehabilitation old man flesh that is constantly lurking in the shadows of our lives (Romans 7:17, 20). Paul concludes that without God’s help, he will be consumed by the flesh.

I encourage you to carve out some time each day, and read Romans 6-7 this week, as we prepare to conclude the doctrine portion of Romans with a brief overview of chapter 8 next Sunday.  May the Holy Spirit comfort you in your pursuit of holiness in this present evil world!