Paul's Epistle to the Romans — page 25

Ch. 6:19-20 – Paul then demonstrates the progressive character of walking in holiness (practical sanctification). He says: “Just as you presented your members to serve uncleanness, and to lawlessness, for lawlessness [iniquity for iniquity – JND], so now present your members to serve righteousness for sanctification”. The Roman believers had practiced iniquities (before being saved) and, in doing so, only became more iniquitous; they now should practice righteousness and this would result in their becoming progressively more holy. This shows that it is something progressive in both directions. Just as a man practicing iniquity becomes increasingly iniquitous (“iniquity for iniquity”), so too the more a Christian practices righteousness, the more holy he becomes (“righteousness for sanctification”).

On the negative side, a man does not become a monster all at once; it can take years of practicing sin. He may commit an evil act today that five years ago he would have hesitated to commit. It has been reported that Nero wept over killing a fly in his youth, but ended his career laughing while Rome was destroyed in flames! Paul's argument here is that, just as sin acts progressively in a person, so also righteousness acts progressively in the life of a believer. Every time we do something right, it becomes easier for us to do it again. G. Cutting aptly said: “Every new victory will give you new power.” Thus, we are “given growth for salvation” in practice (1 Pet. 2:2 – ARA). The children's song emphasizes this point – “Each victory will help you to obtain another”. Thus, Christians are now in a new and happy service as “servants [slaves – JND] of righteousness”.

One difference we should note is that “righteousness” and “holiness” are not the same thing. Righteousness has to do with doing the right things because they are right. Holiness has to do with doing the right things because you love what is right and hate evil.

Ch. 6:21-23 – Paul concludes by pointing to the enormous difference in the results of these two opposite services. He asks the Roman believers to consider the end of the course they were on before being saved – “What fruit did you have then in the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death”. What profit was there in that? It only brought death in every sense. But having been set free, Paul tells them to look at the great and good results that were now being produced in their lives; there was “fruit for sanctification, and in the end eternal life”. They were now free to do the will of God in fellowship with God, and the path they were now on would end in glory on a coming day. (As in chapter 5:21, Paul here sees “eternal life” as something we will attain at the end of the path of faith, when we arrive in heaven in a glorified state. Of course we also have it now, which the apostle John calls “eternal life” – John 3:16, 36, etc., J. N. Darby translation). Verse 22 is a kind of summary of the truth presented in chapter 6. It says:

• We are made “free from sin”.

• We become “servants of God”.

• We have our “fruit for sanctification.”

• The “end is eternal life”.

1. 23 – The conclusion of the whole matter is: “The wages of sin is

death, but the free gift of God is eternal life, through Christ Jesus our Lord”. As mentioned, one course leads to “death” and the other leads to “life”. “The wages of sin” mentioned here is often taken to mean the sins (evil actions) that men commit. Evangelists will use this verse to tell sinners that, as a consequence of their sins, they will die and go to hell. But we should keep in mind that this section of the epistle is not dealing with sins, but with sin, the evil and sinful nature in the believer. Paul has already shown in chapter 5 that death in the human race is not the result of personal sins, but the result of being descendants of a fallen head. Death can take a child only one day old. Of course death did not take it because the child is guilty of sinning, but because it has a sinful nature and its effects in its body caused death. Furthermore, believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, whose sins are forgiven, still die. If their sins caused their death, we could wrongly conclude that God did not forgive them after all! Concerning this verse, J. N. Darby said that “it is not an appeal to sinners as it is sometimes used, but to those already set free” (Synopsis of the Books of the Bible on Romans 6:23).

The Law and Christ

Ch. 7:1-6 – Having been presented the truth of deliverance in chapter 6, we might ask: “Does this deliverance apply in relation to the Law of Moses?” This would be a special concern for believers from among the Jews, for the Gentiles, as we know, were never in that legal relationship with God. The answer is yes; Jewish believers are no longer under the Law. In addressing this question, Paul speaks especially to his Jewish brothers. This is indicated by his statement: “For I speak to those who know the Law.”

There is an obvious difference between deliverance from sin (ch. 6) and deliverance from the Law (ch. 7). Sin is something evil that came into the world through man's failure, whereas the commandment is “holy, righteous and good” (v. 12) and was given by God Himself. It is easy to understand why we need to be delivered from sin, but we might ask why anyone would need to be delivered from something that is good. The answer is that the Law is truly good – good for the purpose for which it was designed – which is to show men what they have done and what they are. However, the Law cannot produce holy life. J. N. Darby pointed out that there are three things the Law does not do (Collected Writings, vol. 31, p. 155); these are:

• It does not give life.

• It does not give strength to carry out its demands.

• It does not give us an object for our hearts.

Therefore, it is a great mistake to think that the Law was given to help a person walk in holiness. It is not – and never was – God's intention to produce holiness in men through the Law.

The mistaken idea of thinking that Gentile believers should be placed under the Law was resolved with authority by the apostles and elders in Jerusalem. This is recorded in Acts 15. But the question remained: "Are the believers in the Lord Jesus who are among the Jews still under the Law?" Paul answers that question here.

The Two Husbands

In this passage, Paul explains why the Law has no connection with Christians – whether they are Jewish Christians or Gentile Christians. In chapter 7:1-3, he establishes the principle, giving a hypothetical illustration of the improbability of a woman being married to two husbands at the same time. Then, in chapter 7:4-6, he shows that, since Christians are dead with Christ, the bond that once held Jewish believers to the obligations of the Law has been broken.

Chap. 7:1-3 – Paul sees the Law as being in the position of a husband and the Jews (before being saved) in the position of a wife. The woman in that situation would be subject to certain obligations toward the husband. Paul declares: "A married woman is bound by the Law to her husband while he lives" (TB). F. B. Hole said: "Every Jew found the old husband – the Law – very severe and inflexible, in fact a wife-beater, although they had to admit that they frankly deserved everything they received" (Paul's Epistles, vol. 1, p. 26). Under the Law, they were weary and "burdened" (ARA) in their efforts to do everything it commanded, and also in fulfilling accessory things that the rabbis added to them. (Matt. 11:28, 23:2-4).

Then Paul says: "But if the husband dies, she is free from the law of the husband". In this statement, Paul does not teach that the Law died – even though he refers to the death of the husband. The great point he is establishing here is that death ends the jurisdiction of the Law; the bond involved in that legal relationship is broken with the arrival of death. Chap. 7:4 – H. Smith points out that in the illustration the husband dies, but in the application of the principle, it is the wife who dies. Paul made clear in verse 1 that those in that legal relationship, who are now identified with Christ, have come to an end through death. He said: "The Law has dominion over a man for as long as he lives" (AIBB). Paul did not say that the Law has dominion over a man for as long as it (the Law) lives, but "for as long as he (the man under it) lives".

Applying the principle of Christ's federal Headship to Jewish believers in their legal relationship with God, Paul shows that, since Christ died, they have the right to consider themselves dead as well. He says: "So, my brothers, you also are dead to the Law through the body of Christ" (v. 4). Thus, believers in the Lord Jesus Christ are not only dead to sin (chap. 6); they are also dead to the Law (chap. 7). The Law no longer has dominion over those who were in that relationship and who believe, because they are seen as dead and gone – and the Law has no dominion over a dead man. J. N. Darby said: "He dies to that in which he was held. The Law could only impose its claim on man as a living son of Adam. 'The Law has power over a man as long as he lives'; but I am dead to the Law through the body of Christ; the bond with the Law, absolutely, totally and necessarily, has ceased, for the person is dead; and the Law has power over him only as long as he lives" (Collected Writings, vol. 10, p. 10).

"The body of Christ", of which Paul speaks here, is not the mystical body of Christ of which we are members (1 Cor. 12:12-13), but the personal (physical) body of Christ that He had when He became a Man (Heb. 10:5; Col. 1:22). It was through that body in which He died that Christ brought believers to death by their identification with Him.