The Gospel and the Religious Mind

Back to Romans, Part 48

Back to Romans, Part 82

Back to Romans, Part 83

¹ Romans 8:12, 13a (NET)

² Romans 8:3 (NET)

³ John 11:25b (NET)

⁴ John 12:25a (NET) Table

⁵ Romans 8:13b (NET)

⁶ John 11:26a (NET)

⁷ John 12:25b (NET) Table

⁸ Romans 6:6 (NET)

⁹ Romans 8:3, 4 (NET)

¹⁰ Romans 8:14 (NET)

¹¹ Matthew 10:18 (NET)

¹² The NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ had καὶ (not translated in the NET) here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had δε (KJV: But).

¹³ The NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ had ἄγωσιν here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had αγαγωσιν (KJV: they shall lead).

¹⁴ The Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had μηδε μελετατε (KJV: neither do ye premeditate) following speak. The NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ did not.

¹⁵ Mark 13:11 (NET)

¹⁶ The NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ had κατέναντι here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had απεναντι (KJV: over against).

¹⁷ Matthew 21:2 (NET)

¹⁸ The Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had αυτων here. The NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ did not.

¹⁹ The NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ had ἐπ᾿ here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had επανω.

²⁰ Matthew 21:7 (NET)

²¹ Luke 4:1 (NET) Table

²² The NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ had δὲ here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had και (KJV: And).

²³ The Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had αυτον here. The NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ did not.

²⁴ The Stephanus Textus Receptus had the article ο here. The NET parallel Greek text, NA²⁸ and Byzantine Majority Text did not.

²⁵ Luke 4:9 (NET)

²⁶ Luke 4:29 (NET) Table

²⁷ The Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had αυτον here. The NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ did not.

²⁸ Luke 22:54a (NET) The NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ had the feminine τὴν οἰκίαν here, a form of οἰκία, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had the masculine τον οικον, a form of οἶκος.

²⁹ The NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ had the plural ἤγαγον here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had the singular ηγαγεν (KJV: led).

³⁰ Luke 23:1 (NET)

³¹ Luke 23:32 (NET)

³² Romans 1:16 (NET) Table

³³ Romans 1:17 (NET)

³⁴ Romans 7:4 (NET)

³⁵ Philippians 3:9 (NET)

³⁶ Galatians 5:4 (NET) Table

³⁷ Galatians 3:24 (NKJV)

³⁸ Galatians 3:24 (NET)

³⁹ Romans 7:6 (NET)

Romans, Part 30

Posted on October 30, 2012 by admin

So then, brothers and sisters, Paul continued, we are under obligation (ὀφειλέται, a form of ὀφειλέτης), not to the flesh (σαρκὶ, a form of σάρξ), to live according to the flesh (σάρκα, another form of σάρξ)…¹ The word translated obligation above is also found in Matthew’s version of the Lord’s prayer, and forgive us our debts (ὀφειλήματα, a form of ὀφείλημα), as we ourselves have forgiven our debtors (ὀφειλέταις, another form of ὀφειλέτης).² This is a powerful concept, but first I want to focus on what the flesh is not.

The flesh as Paul used it is not the body. Be careful, he warned, not to allow anyone to captivate you through an empty, deceitful philosophy that is according to human traditions and the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ.³ If⁴ you have died with Christ⁵ to the elemental spirits of the world, why do you submit to them as though you lived in the world? “Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!” These are all destined to perish with use, founded as they are on human commands and teachings. Even though they have the appearance of wisdom with their self-imposed worship⁶ and false humility achieved by an unsparing treatment⁷ of the body (σώματος, a form of σῶμα) – a wisdom with no true value – they in reality result in fleshly (σαρκός, another form of σάρξ) indulgence (πλησμονὴν, a form of πλησμονή).⁸

In other words, “I self-flagellate three times a day and only eat bread and water,” is the same pride and religious thinking that got us into this mess in the first place. It is the religious impulse of the flesh of Adam.

The flesh is not sexual desire. A husband should give to his wife her sexual rights (ὀφειλὴν, a form of ὀφειλή), and likewise a wife to her husband. It is not the wife who has the rights (ἐξουσιάζει, a form of ἐξουσιάζω) to her own body (σώματος, a form of σῶμα), but the husband. In the same way, it is not the husband who has the rights (ἐξουσιάζει, a form of ἐξουσιάζω) to his own body (σώματος, a form of σῶμα), but the wife [Table]. Do not deprive each other, except by mutual agreement for a specified time, so that you may devote yourselves to prayer [Table].⁹ While the believer in Christ is not obligated (ὀφειλέται, a form of ὀφειλέτης) or a debtor to the flesh, husband and wife are indebted (ὀφειλὴν, a form of ὀφειλή) to each other sexually.

Interestingly, neither the wife nor the husband possesses the ἐξουσιάζει (a form of ἐξουσιάζω; authority, power) over her or his own body. That belongs to the spouse. This is the same authority that Gentile kings lorded over their subjects as Jesus told his disciples, “The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those in authority (ἐξουσιάζοντες, another form of ἐξουσιάζω) over them are called ‘benefactors.’ Not so with you; instead the one who is greatest among you must become¹⁰ like the youngest, and the leader like the one who serves.”¹¹ It is the same control Paul would not allow anything to have over him: “All things are lawful for me” – but not everything is beneficial. “All things are lawful for me” – but I will not be controlled (ἐξουσιασθήσομαι, another form of ἐξουσιάζω) by anything.¹² I think I’ll go the long way around and circle back to this.

While sex (and sexual desire) in and of itself is not the flesh, if I set my sights on another’s wife (or a prostitute) that is the flesh. (Or do you not know that anyone who is united [κολλώμενος, a form of κολλάω] with a prostitute [πόρνῃ, a form of πόρνη] is one body with her?¹³) Here is where the power I spoke of earlier comes into play. If I believe that I delight in the law of God in my inner being,¹⁴ then the desire for another’s wife or a prostitute, which is clearly contrary to God’s law, is not my desire: Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer me doing it but sin that lives in me.¹⁵ It is like a distant early warning system, sounding the alarm which I is asserting control.

This distinction may not be so obvious for the young, the virginal, or the single. I should know. I’ve spent most of my adult life single. But I want to address that in a separate essay.

Now not everyone lumps the old man, flesh, sin personified, desire of the flesh and so on together as one thing. But I have read a lot of Nietzsche, and out of deference, I suppose, for the help he has been to me I try to keep what he would call “imaginary causes and effects”¹⁶ to a minimum. I can posit all of this sin and rebellious desire in an old man born of Adam (as well as the credited righteousness of God and the fruit of his Spirit in a new creation born from above in the image of Christ) without feeling that any of this is my imagination. And the quantum leap (there is no time or space between energy quanta) between the old and new I describes my experience with chilling accuracy, especially in outbursts of anger.¹⁷

Even as I rant I wonder, “Who are you?” For I don’t understand what I am doing. For I do not do what I want – instead, I do what I hate.¹⁸ That’s how my father used to act! And there have been times when that brought me back from the brink. (But there have also been times when that did not bring me back from the brink and I reveled in the sensual pleasure of rage.)

The main theological objection to lumping the old man, flesh, sin personified, desire of the flesh and so on together is that our old man was crucified with¹⁹ Jesus. It is therefore dead (and presumably gone). I take the death of Adam as my key here. God said, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.²⁰ Something died in Adam when he became knowledgeable of evil.

I heard you moving about in the orchard, Adam said to God, and I was afraid because I was naked, so I hid,²¹ yet Adam had been naked all along. The man and his wife were both naked, but they were not ashamed,²² not with God, not with each other, and not with the animals. In a similar sense something has died in me, too. The old man no longer has my absolute unquestioned allegiance as me. And that is all Paul said, We know that our old man was crucified with him so that the body of sin would no longer dominate us, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin.²³ The entire lifetime of Adam was 930 years, and then he died.²⁴ And in a similar way I await that ultimate condemnation of sin in the flesh,²⁵ the death of this body.

I promised I would circle back via the long way. Why would Paul counsel Corinthian husbands and wives to treat each other sexually in ways that Jesus did not want his disciples to treat each other at all, and under a control that Paul himself would not allow anything to have over him? So, here goes.

If the flesh got the wild idea to seek out a prostitute I wouldn’t know where to begin to look for one. Add to that, I know me. If I had sex with a pretty young prostitute I would fall in love with a pretty young prostitute. About a decade after my first divorce it took several days for me to get the pretty nurse who administered a barium enema out of my mind. I can be a silly old fool, no doubt about it. But chasing a pretty young prostitute, saying, “I love you, I love you, let me take you away from all of this,” is a sillier old fool than I can be. I live in the Midwest. I am working class all the way. I grew up in a fundamentalist church. There is something unseemly about visiting a prostitute.

Though the Roman government had apparently put a damper on the sexual worship of goddesses (and gods) in other places, this practice still flourished in Corinth at the time Paul wrote. Visiting a temple prostitute was good and in some cases necessary for good fortune. Highly skilled sex slaves, both male πόρνοι (a form of πόρνος) and female πόρνης (a form of πόρνη), were readily available, and Paul counseled husbands and wives, because of this πορνείας (a form of πορνεία), to be that for each other. He never repented of it. He never gave it a different spin that I have found. So I assume that even that degree of sensual and sexual commitment between husband and wife was not living according to the flesh²⁶ in Paul’s understanding of the term he appropriated to describe the situation of the one born of the flesh and of the Spirit.

I want to leave the pelvic sins (as I heard a clever wag call them) to ponder the wider scope of opposition of the flesh to the Spirit of God. Now the works of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality (πορνεία), impurity, depravity, idolatry, sorcery, hostilities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish rivalries, dissensions, factions, envying, murder, drunkenness, carousing, and similar things.²⁷ There is a world of sin less than a hair’s breadth and a nanosecond away from me (there is no time or space between quantum states) at every moment of my life here in this body. But I say, Paul wrote the Galatians, live by the Spirit and you will not carry out the desires of the flesh.²⁸ So then, brothers and sisters, Paul wrote the Romans, we are under obligation, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh…²⁹

Addendum: May 31, 2024
Tables comparing Genesis 5:5 in the Tanakh, KJV and NET, and comparing the Greek of Genesis 5:5 in the Septuagint (BLB and Elpenor), and tables comparing Colossians 2:20; 2:23 and Luke 22:26 in the KJV and NET follow.

Genesis 5:5 (Tanakh)	Genesis 5:5 (KJV)	Genesis 5:5 (NET)
And all the days that Adam lived were nine hundred and thirty years; and he died.	And all the days that Adam lived were nine hundred and thirty years: and he died.	The entire lifetime of Adam was 930 years, and then he died.

Genesis 5:5 (Septuagint BLB)	Genesis 5:5 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ ἐγένοντο πᾶσαι αἱ ἡμέραι Αδαμ ἃς ἔζησεν ἐννακόσια καὶ τριάκοντα ἔτη καὶ ἀπέθανεν	καὶ ἐγένοντο πᾶσαι αἱ ἡμέραι ᾿Αδάμ, ἃς ἔζησε, τριάκοντα καὶ ἐννακόσια ἔτη, καὶ ἀπέθανεν
Genesis 5:5 (NETS)	Genesis 5:5 (English Elpenor)
And all the days of Adam, that he lived, amounted to nine hundred thirty years, and he died.	And all the days of Adam which he lived were nine hundred and thirty years, and he died.

Colossians 2:20 (NET)	Colossians 2:20 (KJV)
If you have died with Christ to the elemental spirits of the world, why do you submit to them as though you lived in the world?	Wherefore if ye be dead with Christ from the rudiments of the world, why, as though living in the world, are ye subject to ordinances,

Colossians 2:20 (NET Parallel Greek)	Colossians 2:20 (Stephanus Textus Receptus)	Colossians 2:20 (Byzantine Majority Text)
Εἰ ἀπεθάνετε σὺν Χριστῷ ἀπὸ τῶν στοιχείων τοῦ κόσμου, τί ὡς ζῶντες ἐν κόσμῳ δογματίζεσθε	ει ουν απεθανετε συν τω χριστω απο των στοιχειων του κοσμου τι ως ζωντες εν κοσμω δογματιζεσθε	ει απεθανετε συν χριστω απο των στοιχειων του κοσμου τι ως ζωντες εν κοσμω δογματιζεσθε

Colossians 2:23 (NET)	Colossians 2:23 (KJV)
Even though they have the appearance of wisdom with their self-imposed worship and humility achieved by an unsparing treatment of the body—a wisdom with no true value—they in reality result in fleshly indulgence.	Which things have indeed a shew of wisdom in will worship, and humility, and neglecting of the body; not in any honour to the satisfying of the flesh.

Colossians 2:23 (NET Parallel Greek)	Colossians 2:23 (Stephanus Textus Receptus)	Colossians 2:23 (Byzantine Majority Text)
ἅτινα ἐστιν λόγον μὲν ἔχοντα σοφίας ἐν ἐθελοθρησκίᾳ καὶ ταπεινοφροσύνῃ ἀφειδίᾳ σώματος, οὐκ ἐν τιμῇ τινι πρὸς πλησμονὴν τῆς σαρκός	ατινα εστιν λογον μεν εχοντα σοφιας εν εθελοθρησκεια και ταπεινοφροσυνη και αφειδια σωματος ουκ εν τιμη τινι προς πλησμονην της σαρκος	ατινα εστιν λογον μεν εχοντα σοφιας εν εθελοθρησκεια και ταπεινοφροσυνη και αφειδια σωματος ουκ εν τιμη τινι προς πλησμονην της σαρκος

Luke 22:26 (NET)	Luke 22:26 (KJV)
Not so with you; instead the one who is greatest among you must become like the youngest, and the leader like the one who serves.	But ye shall not be so: but he that is greatest among you, let him be as the younger; and he that is chief, as he that doth serve.

Luke 22:26 (NET Parallel Greek)	Luke 22:26 (Stephanus Textus Receptus)	Luke 22:26 (Byzantine Majority Text)
ὑμεῖς δὲ οὐχ οὕτως, ἀλλ᾿ ὁ μείζων ἐν ὑμῖν γινέσθω ὡς ὁ νεώτερος καὶ ὁ ἡγούμενος ὡς ὁ διακονῶν	υμεις δε ουχ ουτως αλλ ο μειζων εν υμιν γενεσθω ως ο νεωτερος και ο ηγουμενος ως ο διακονων	υμεις δε ουχ ουτως αλλ ο μειζων εν υμιν γενεσθω ως ο νεωτερος και ο ηγουμενος ως ο διακονων

Romans, Part 31

Back to Young, Virginal, or Single

Back to Sexual Immorality Revisited, Part 3

Back to Conclusion

Back to Father, Forgive Them, Part 3

Back to The Day of the Lord, Part 6

¹ Romans 8:12 (NET)

² Matthew 6:12 (NET) Table

³ Colossians 2:8 (NET)

⁴ The Stephanus Textus Receptus had ουν (KJV: Wherefore) here. The NET parallel Greek text, NA²⁸ and Byzantine Majority Text did not.

⁵ The Stephanus Textus Receptus had the article τω preceding Christ. The NET parallel Greek text, NA²⁸ and Byzantine Majority Text did not.

⁶ The NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ had ἐθελοθρησκίᾳ in the dative case here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had εθελοθρησκεια (KJV: will worship) in the nominative case.

⁷ The Stephanus Textus Receptus, Byzantine Majority Text and NA²⁸ had καὶ preceding by an unsparing treatment (KJV: neglecting). The NET parallel Greek text did not (NET note 46).

⁸ Colossians 2:20-23 (NET)

⁹ 1 Corinthians 7:3-5a (NET)

¹⁰ The NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ had γινέσθω in the present tense here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had γενεσθω (KJV: let him be) in the 2nd aorist tense.

¹¹ Luke 22:25, 26 (NET)

¹² 1 Corinthians 6:12 (NET)

¹³ 1 Corinthians 6:16 (NET)

¹⁴ Romans 7:22 (NET)

¹⁵ Romans 7:20 (NET) Table

¹⁶ Friedrich Nietzsche: The Antichrist (part 2)

¹⁷ Galatians 5:20 (NET) Table

¹⁸ Romans 7:15 (NET)

¹⁹ Romans 6:6 (NET)

²⁰ Genesis 2:17 (NKJV) Table

²¹ Genesis 3:10 (NET) Table

²² Genesis 2:25 (NET) Table

²³ Romans 6:6 (NET)

²⁴ Genesis 5:5 (NET)

²⁵ Romans 8:3 (NET)

²⁶ Romans 8:12 (NET)

²⁷ Galatians 5:19-21a (NET) [Table] There is no note explaining why, but adultery (μοιχεία) which heads this list in the KJV does not even appear in the Greek text from which the NET was translated. It does begin the list in the textus receptus (received text).

²⁸ Galatians 5:16 (NET)

²⁹ Romans 8:12 (NET)

Romans, Part 29

Posted on October 19, 2012 by admin

There is therefore now no condemnation (κατάκριμα) for those who are in Christ Jesus (ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ),¹ Paul continued. I want to list some of the things that are true for those in Christ Jesus:

In Christ Jesus…
1) …born of water and spirit [Table]…What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit.	John 3:5, 6 (NET)
2) …the flesh has desires that are opposed to the Spirit, and the Spirit has desires that are opposed to the flesh, for these are in opposition to each other, so that you cannot do what you want [Table].	Galatians 5:17 (NET)
3) I delight in the law of God in my inner being.	Romans 7:22 (NET)
4) I know that nothing good lives…in my flesh [Table].	Romans 7:18a (NET)
5) I want to do the good, but I cannot do it [Table].	Romans 7:18b (NET)
6) I do not do the good I want, but I do the very evil I do not want [Table]!	Romans 7:19 (NET)
7) Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer me doing it but sin that lives in me [Table].	Romans 7:20 (NET)
8) So then, with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin [Table].	Romans 7:25b (NKJV)
9) There is therefore now no condemnation [Table]…	Romans 8:1a (NET)

For the law of the life-giving Spirit in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death.² All of this was achieved by God. For God achieved what the law could not do because it was weakened through the flesh. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and concerning sin, he condemned (κατέκρινεν, a form of κατακρίνω) sin in the flesh…³

Only God knows how much sin is condemned in my flesh. I have a general sense that while I’m preoccupied (and frustrated) with the opposition of the flesh that keeps me from the perfection I want (and think I should demonstrate by the righteousness of God through the faithfulness of Jesus Christ)⁴ less and less of the sin (that is the desire of the flesh) sees the light of day. It is not expressed in the world. It is confined, trapped, condemned in dead and dying flesh.

I am the resurrection and the life, Jesus said. The one who believes in me will live even if he dies, and the one who lives and believes in me will never die.⁵ This was a difficult saying for Martha to believe, many years before Paul wrote to the Romans. Jesus asked her, Do you believe this?⁶ Martha’s answer was a model of tactful diplomacy, Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God who comes into the world.⁷

Jesus knew Martha’s brother was sick, but deliberately waited two more days until he died.⁸ Our friend, He told his disciples, has fallen asleep. But I am going there to awaken him.⁹ His disciples were not eager to return to Judea. Rabbi, they said, the Jewish leaders were just now trying to stone you to death! [Jesus had claimed to be Yahweh, John 8:58, 59 NET] Are you going there again?¹⁰ Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will recover.¹¹ So Jesus told them plainly that he was dead, and said, I am glad for your sake that I was not there, so that you may believe.¹²

Jesus had deliberately contrived this situation as an object lesson for his disciples, but then Mary, Martha’s sister, came and fell at¹³ his feet and said to him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died:”¹⁴

When Jesus saw her weeping, and the people who had come with her weeping, he was intensely moved in spirit and greatly distressed. He asked, “Where have you laid him?” They replied, “Lord, come and see.” Jesus wept.¹⁵

It was a profound moment. Only He knows how many people He killed as Yahweh, sinners, yes, but people. He planned the death of Martha’s and Mary’s brother. He knew what He intended to do in the next few moments. And yet He wept. To say that Yahweh was not empathetic with human death would be false. I’m particularly affected by the implications of Genesis 18, that before the omniscient, omnipresent Yahweh decided to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah he took physical form and walked its streets. But there is something even more affecting about Yahweh, born of the flesh of Adam as Jesus, standing before the tomb of a friend weeping human tears from human eyes.

Take away the stone,¹⁶ Jesus said. Martha, ever the proper hostess, protested, Lord, by this time the body will have a bad smell, because he has been buried four days.¹⁷ Jesus responded (John 11:40-44 NET):

“Didn’t I tell you that if you believe, you would see¹⁸ the glory of God?” So they took away the stone.¹⁹ Jesus looked upward and said, “Father, I thank you that you have listened to me. I knew that you always listen to me, but I said this for the sake of the crowd standing around here, that they may believe that you sent me.” When he had said this, he shouted in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” The²⁰ one who had died came out, his feet and hands tied up with strips of cloth, and a cloth wrapped around his face. Jesus said to them, “Unwrap him and let him²¹ go.”

Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord²²…who will rescue me from this body of death.²³ The ultimate condemnation of sin in the flesh is the death of the body. The one who believes in me will live even if he dies,²⁴ Jesus promised everyone born of the flesh and of the Spirit. To those who already consider themselves dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus,²⁵ who accept their new identities, with the mind [they themselves] serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin,²⁶ Jesus promised, the one who lives and believes in me will never die.²⁷ To them the well-deserved demise of the body of death is a welcome relief, not a cause of apprehension.

Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, [Jesus] likewise shared in their humanity, so that through death he could destroy the one who holds the power of death (that is, the devil), and set free those who were held in slavery all their lives by their fear of death,²⁸ is the way the writer of Hebrews put it. Paul concluded, so that the righteous requirement of the law may be fulfilled (πληρωθῇ, a form of πληρόω) in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.²⁹ The righteous requirement of the law is fulfilled by the righteousness of God [apart from the law³⁰] through the faithfulness of Jesus Christ for all who believe,³¹ the love that is the fulfillment (πλήρωμα) of the law,³² the fruit of the Spirit³³ of God, in other words, to walk according…to the Spirit. As Jesus said, Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have not come to abolish these things but to fulfill (πληρῶσαι, another form of πληρόω) them.³⁴

Paul continued (Romans 8:5-11 NET):

For those who live according to the flesh have their outlook shaped by the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit have their outlook shaped by the things of the Spirit. For the outlook of the flesh is death, but the outlook of the Spirit is life and peace, because the outlook of the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to the law of God, nor is it able to do so. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, this person does not belong to him [Table]. But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is your life because of righteousness. Moreover if the Spirit of the one who raised Jesus from the dead lives in you, the one who raised Christ from the dead will also make your mortal bodies alive through his Spirit who lives in you [Table].

Addendum: May 15, 2024
Tables comparing John 11:32; 11:39; 11:40, 41 and 11:44 in the NET and KJV follow.

John 11:32 (NET)	John 11:32 (KJV)
Now when Mary came to the place where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said to him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”	Then when Mary was come where Jesus was, and saw him, she fell down at his feet, saying unto him, Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died.

John 11:32 (NET Parallel Greek)	John 11:32 (Stephanus Textus Receptus)	John 11:32 (Byzantine Majority Text)
Ἡ οὖν Μαριὰμ ὡς ἦλθεν ὅπου ἦν Ἰησοῦς ἰδοῦσα αὐτὸν ἔπεσεν αὐτοῦ πρὸς τοὺς πόδας λέγουσα αὐτῷ· κύριε, εἰ ἦς ὧδε οὐκ ἄν μου ἀπέθανεν ὁ ἀδελφός	η ουν μαρια ως ηλθεν οπου ην ο ιησους ιδουσα αυτον επεσεν εις τους ποδας αυτου λεγουσα αυτω κυριε ει ης ωδε ουκ αν απεθανεν μου ο αδελφος	η ουν μαρια ως ηλθεν οπου ην ο ιησους ιδουσα αυτον επεσεν αυτου εις τους ποδας λεγουσα αυτω κυριε ει ης ωδε ουκ αν απεθανεν μου ο αδελφος

John 11:39 (NET)	John 11:39 (KJV)
Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of the deceased, replied, “Lord, by this time the body will have a bad smell because he has been buried four days.”	Jesus said, Take ye away the stone. Martha, the sister of him that was dead, saith unto him, Lord, by this time he stinketh: for he hath been dead four days.

John 11:39 (NET Parallel Greek)	John 11:39 (Stephanus Textus Receptus)	John 11:39 (Byzantine Majority Text)
λέγει ὁ Ἰησοῦς· ἄρατε τὸν λίθον. λέγει αὐτῷ ἡ ἀδελφὴ τοῦ τετελευτηκότος Μάρθα· κύριε, ἤδη ὄζει, τεταρταῖος γάρ ἐστιν	λεγει ο ιησους αρατε τον λιθον λεγει αυτω η αδελφη του τεθνηκοτος μαρθα κυριε ηδη οζει τεταρταιος γαρ εστιν	λεγει ο ιησους αρατε τον λιθον λεγει αυτω η αδελφη του τεθνηκοτος μαρθα κυριε ηδη οζει τεταρταιος γαρ εστιν

John 11:40, 41 (NET)	John 11:40, 41 (KJV)
Jesus responded, “Didn’t I tell you that if you believe, you would see the glory of God?”	Jesus saith unto her, Said I not unto thee, that, if thou wouldest believe, thou shouldest see the glory of God?

John 11:40 (NET Parallel Greek)	John 11:40 (Stephanus Textus Receptus)	John 11:40 (Byzantine Majority Text)
λέγει αὐτῇ ὁ Ἰησοῦς· οὐκ εἶπον σοι ὅτι ἐὰν πιστεύσῃς ὄψῃ τὴν δόξαν τοῦ θεοῦ	λεγει αυτη ο ιησους ουκ ειπον σοι οτι εαν πιστευσης οψει την δοξαν του θεου	λεγει αυτη ο ιησους ουκ ειπον σοι οτι εαν πιστευσης οψει την δοξαν του θεου

So they took away the stone. Jesus looked upward and said, “Father, I thank you that you have listened to me.

Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead was laid. And Jesus lifted up his eyes, and said, Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me.

John 11:41 (NET Parallel Greek)	John 11:41 (Stephanus Textus Receptus)	John 11:41 (Byzantine Majority Text)
ἦραν οὖν τὸν λίθον. ὁ δὲ Ἰησοῦς ἦρεν τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς ἄνω καὶ εἶπεν· πάτερ, εὐχαριστῶ σοι ὅτι ἤκουσας μου	ηραν ουν τον λιθον ου ην ο τεθνηκως κειμενος ο δε ιησους ηρεν τους οφθαλμους ανω και ειπεν πατερ ευχαριστω σοι οτι ηκουσας μου	ηραν ουν τον λιθον ου ην ο τεθνηκως κειμενος ο δε ιησους ηρεν τους οφθαλμους ανω και ειπεν πατερ ευχαριστω σοι οτι ηκουσας μου

John 11:44 (NET)	John 11:44 (KJV)
The one who had died came out, his feet and hands tied up with strips of cloth, and a cloth wrapped around his face. Jesus said to them, “Unwrap him and let him go.”	And he that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot with graveclothes: and his face was bound about with a napkin. Jesus saith unto them, Loose him, and let him go.

John 11:44 (NET Parallel Greek)	John 11:44 (Stephanus Textus Receptus)	John 11:44 (Byzantine Majority Text)
ἐξῆλθεν ὁ τεθνηκὼς δεδεμένος τοὺς πόδας καὶ τὰς χεῖρας κειρίαις καὶ ἡ ὄψις αὐτοῦ σουδαρίῳ περιεδέδετο. λέγει \|αὐτοῖς\| \|ὁ\| Ἰησοῦς · λύσατε αὐτὸν καὶ ἄφετε αὐτὸν ὑπάγειν	και εξηλθεν ο τεθνηκως δεδεμενος τους ποδας και τας χειρας κειριαις και η οψις αυτου σουδαριω περιεδεδετο λεγει αυτοις ο ιησους λυσατε αυτον και αφετε υπαγειν	και εξηλθεν ο τεθνηκως δεδεμενος τους ποδας και τας χειρας κειριαις και η οψις αυτου σουδαριω περιεδεδετο λεγει αυτοις ο ιησους λυσατε αυτον και αφετε υπαγειν

Peter’s Way?

Romans, Part 30

Back to Son of God – John, Part 5

Back to Saving Demons, Part 1

Back to Romans, Part 45

¹ Romans 8:1 (NET) Table

² Romans 8:2 (NET) Table

³ Romans 8:3 (NET)

⁴ Romans 3:22 (NET) Table

⁵ John 11:25, 26a (NET)

⁶ John 11:26b (NET)

⁷ John 11:27 (NET)

⁸ John 11:6 (NET)

⁹ John 11:11 (NET)

¹⁰ John 11:8 (NET)

¹¹ John 11:12 (NET) Table

¹² John 11:15 (NET) Table

¹³ The NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ had πρὸς here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had εις.

¹⁴ John 11:32 (NET)

¹⁵ John 11:33-35 (NET)

¹⁶ John 11:39a (NET)

¹⁷ John 11:39b (NET)

¹⁸ The NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ had ὄψῃ here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had οψει (KJV: thou shouldest see).

¹⁹ The Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had ου ην ο τεθνηκως κειμενος (KJV: from the place where the dead was laid) here. The NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ did not.

²⁰ The Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had και (KJV: And) at the beginning of this clause. The NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ did not.

²¹ The NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ had αὐτὸν here. The Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text did not.

²² Romans 7:25a (NET) Table

²³ Romans 7:24b (NET)

²⁴ John 11:25b (NET)

²⁵ Romans 6:11 (NET) Table

²⁶ Romans 7:25b (NET) Table

²⁷ John 11:26a (NET)

²⁸ Hebrews 2:14, 15 (NET)

²⁹ Romans 8:4 (NET)

³⁰ Romans 3:21 (NET)

³¹ Romans 3:22 (NET) Table

³² Romans 13:10 (NET)

³³ Galatians 5:22, 23 (NET) Table

³⁴ Matthew 5:17 (NET)

Romans, Part 28

Posted on October 18, 2012 by admin

Did that which is good, then, become death (θάνατος) to me?¹ Paul continued. It is a reasonable question considering that the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous, and good,² and that Paul found that the very commandment that was intended to bring life brought death (θάνατον, a form of θάνατος)!³ Absolutely not! Paul continued. But sin, so that it would be shown to be sin, produced death (θάνατον, a form of θάνατος) in me through what is good, so that through the commandment sin would become utterly sinful.⁴

Again, I think sin personified here is Paul’s way of referring to the old man crucified with Christ. But finally I have come to the place where Paul, by expressing the inner confusion of this house divided, one born of the flesh and of the Spirit, actually clarified the situation.

For we know that the law is spiritual – but I (ἐγὼ) am unspiritual (σάρκινος), sold into slavery to sin.⁵ It is difficult to hear Paul call himself unspiritual, sold into slavery to sin. After all, what does that mean for someone like me? But Paul was describing himself as a man deceived and seized by a fit of coveting, sin [old man], seizing the opportunity through the commandment, produced in me all kinds of wrong desires.⁶ In the beginning this old man (sin personified) was perceived by Paul as I (ἐγὼ), I am unspiritual, sold into slavery to sin. [Addendum 4/27/2024: Now I suspect this was the wishful thinking of my religious mind.]

For I don’t understand (γινώσκω) what I am doing. For I do not do what I want (θέλω)– instead, I do what I hate. But if I do what I don’t want (θέλω), I agree that the law is good.⁷ If Paul had not been a house divided, born only of the flesh of Adam, there would have been none of this confusion. And I think the resolution goes something like this: For I [new man or woman] don’t understand what I [old man] am doing. For I [old man] do not do what I [new man or woman] want – instead, I [old man] do what I [new man or woman] hate. But if I [old man] do what I [new man or woman] don’t want, I [new man or woman] agree that the law is good.

Here is the first recognition, if you will, of the new I wanting, desiring, willing, something different than the old I. With that, and beyond that, came the recognition of a possible new identity. But now it is no longer me [new man or woman] doing it, but sin [old man] that lives in me.⁸ And just in case I missed it, Paul went on to elaborate this distinction.

For I [new man or woman] know (Οἶδα, a form of εἴδω; i.e., know by seeing) that nothing good lives in me [old man], that is, in my flesh (σαρκί, a form of σάρξ). For I [new man or woman] want (θέλειν, a form of θέλω) to do the good, but I [new man or woman] cannot do it. For I [old man] do not do the good I [new man or woman] want (θέλω), but I [old man] do the very evil I [new man or woman] do not want (θέλω)! Now if I [old man] do what I [new man or woman] do not want (θέλω), it is no longer me [new man or woman] doing it but sin [old man] that lives in me.⁹

And so the law is the measure by which to distinguish one I from the other, the old from the new. The law excites the old I to rebellion and sin, while it is the earnest hope, desire and plea of the new I, though the power to fulfill that desire may seem overwhelmingly lacking.

So, I [new man or woman] find the law that when I [new man or woman] want (θέλοντι, another form of θέλω) to do good, evil [old man] is present with me [new man or woman]. For I [new man or woman] delight in the law of God in my [new man or woman] inner being. But I [new man or woman] see a different law in my [new man or woman] members waging war against the law of my [new man or woman] mind and making me [old man] captive to the law of sin that is in my [new man or woman] members [Table]. Wretched man that I [old man] am! Who will rescue me [new man or woman] from this body (σώματος, a form of σῶμα) of death (θανάτου, another form of θάνατος) [old man]?¹⁰

I admit that some of my designations in the preceding passage of the “new man or woman” may be arguable. I believe, however, that through faith I, the new man or woman, lay claim to more and more of my mind and my members. And I think that is the insight behind Paul’s gratitude, Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!¹¹ as he self-identified as the new man, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh (σαρκὶ, a form of σάρξ) I serve the law of sin.¹²

The NET translators acknowledged that they added the second “I serve” for “clarity” (note 28). But this is not like verse 17, in my flesh (ἐν τῇ σαρκί μου, literally “in this flesh of mine”). It is simply “but this flesh” (τῇ δὲ σαρκὶ). I think Paul’s point is better served by the NKJV translation, So then, with the mind I myself (αὐτὸς ἐγὼ) serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin,¹³ where the double emphasis of I myself is clearly distinguished from the flesh.

Romans, Part 29

Back to Everyone Fathered by God Does Not Sin

You Must Be Gentle, Part 1

Back to Romans, Part 26

Back to Romans, Part 27

Back to Young, Virginal or Single

Back to Introduction

Back to The Life

Back to Romans, Part 38

Back to Antichrist, Part 1

Back to Antichrist, Part 2

Back to Saving Demons, Part 1

Back to Romans, Part 46

Back to Torture, Part 2

Back to Paul’s Religious Mind Revisited, Part 4

Back to A Shadow of the Good Things, Part 8

¹ Romans 7:13a (NET) Table

² Romans 7:12 (NET)

³ Romans 7:10 (NET)

⁴ Romans 7:13b (NET) Table

⁵ Romans 7:14 (NET) Table

⁶ Romans 7:8 (NET)

⁷ Romans 7:15, 16 (NET)

⁸ Romans 7:17 (NET) Table

⁹ Romans 7:18-20 (NET) Table

¹⁰ Romans 7:21-24 (NET)

¹¹ Romans 7:25a (NET) Table

¹² Romans 7:25b (NET) Table

¹³ Romans 7:25b (NKJV) Table

Romans, Part 27

Posted on October 17, 2012 by admin

Or do you not know, brothers and sisters, Paul continued, (for I am speaking to those who know the law [νόμον, a form of νόμος]), that the law (νόμος) is lord over a person as long as he lives?¹ Thus Paul introduced another value of the death of those who were baptized into Christ Jesus’ death.² Then he used a metaphor to describe the life of those who have been buried with him through baptism into death, in order that just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so [they] too may live a new life³ (Romans 7:2-4 NET).

For a married woman is bound by law (νόμῳ, another form of νόμος) to her husband as long as he lives, but if her husband dies, she is released from the law (νόμου, another form of νόμος) of the marriage. So then, if she is joined to another man while her husband is alive, she will be called an adulteress. But if her husband dies, she is free from that law (νόμου, another form of νόμος), and if she is joined to another man, she is not an adulteress. So, my brothers and sisters, you also died to the law (νόμῳ, another form of νόμος) through the body of Christ, so that you could be joined to another, to the one who was raised from the dead, to bear fruit (καρποφορήσωμεν, a form of καρποφορέω to God.

I have unpacked this metaphor elsewhere and won’t do it again. In the context of this metaphor then the new man born of the Spirit is a new woman bringing forth righteousness, the fruit of the Spirit, as a wife bears her husband’s children. There is a time lag between conception, coming to term and giving birth. But that time lag is no excuse, and certainly not a valid reason, for avoiding intimate relations with the Lord Jesus. On the contrary, the time one spends waiting and hoping for righteousness to come forth is best spent trusting Him, believing things like, For when we were in the flesh, the sinful (παθήματα, a form of πάθημα) desires (ἁμαρτιῶν, a form of ἁμαρτία), aroused by the law (νόμου, another form of νόμος), were active in the members of our body to bear fruit (καρποφορῆσαι, another form of καρποφορέω) for death. But now we have been released from the law (νόμου, another form of νόμος), because we have died to what controlled us, so that we may serve in the new life of the Spirit and not under the old written code.⁴

What shall we say then? Paul continued. Is the law (νόμος) sin?⁵ Paul had a bad reputation over his comments about the law. When he journeyed back to Jerusalem even the elders of the church said to him (Acts 21:20b-24 NET):

You see, brother, how many thousands of Jews there are who have believed, and they are all ardent observers of the law (νόμου, another form of νόμος). They have been informed about you – that you teach all the Jews now living among the Gentiles to abandon Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children or live according to our customs. What then should we do? They will no doubt hear that you have come [Table]. So do what we tell you: We have four men who have taken a vow; take them and purify yourself along with them and pay their expenses, so that they may have their heads shaved.⁶ Then everyone will know⁷ there is nothing in what they have been told about you, but that you yourself live in conformity with the law (νόμον, a form of νόμος).

Paul, who wrote my heart’s desire and prayer to God on behalf of my fellow Israelites is for their salvation,⁸ complied with their request. But it didn’t work. Jews from the province of Asia who had seen [Paul] in the temple area stirred up the whole crowd and seized him, shouting, “Men of Israel, help! This is the man who teaches everyone everywhere against our people, our law (νόμου, another form of νόμος), and this sanctuary!”⁹ The mob would have killed Paul if not for the intervention of the Roman commander of a cohort, his centurions and soldiers. Paul asked permission to speak to the crowd (Acts 22:1-21 NET):

“Brothers and fathers, listen to my defense that I now make to you” [Table]. (When they heard that he was addressing them in Aramaic [Ἑβραΐδι, a form of Ἑβραΐς], they became even quieter.) Then Paul said, “I am a Jew, born in Tarsus in Cilicia, but brought up in this city, educated with strictness under Gamaliel according to the law (νόμου, another form of νόμος) of our ancestors, and was zealous for God just as all of you are today [Table]. I persecuted this Way even to the point of death, tying up both men and women and putting them in prison, as both the high priest and the whole council of elders can testify about me. From them I also received letters to the brothers in Damascus, and I was on my way to make arrests there and bring the prisoners to Jerusalem to be punished. As I was en route and near Damascus, about noon a very bright light from heaven suddenly flashed around me. Then I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?’ [Table] I answered, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ He said to me, ‘I am Jesus the Nazarene, whom you are persecuting.’ Those who were with me saw the light, but did not understand the voice of the one who was speaking to me [Table]. So I asked, ‘What should I do, Lord?’ The Lord said to me, ‘Get up and go to Damascus; there you will be told about everything that you have been designated to do.’ Since I could not see because of the brilliance of that light, I came to Damascus led by the hand of those who were with me. A man named Ananias, a devout man according to the law (νόμον, a form of νόμος), well spoken of by all the Jews who live there [Table], came to me and stood beside me and said to me, ‘Brother Saul, regain your sight!’ And at that very moment I looked up and saw him. Then he said, ‘The God of our ancestors has already chosen you to know his will (θέλημα), to see the Righteous One, and to hear a command from his mouth, because you will be his witness to all people of what you have seen and heard. And now what are you waiting for? Get up, be baptized, and have your sins washed away, calling on his¹⁰ name.’ When I returned to Jerusalem and was praying in the temple, I fell into a trance and saw the Lord saying to me, ‘Hurry and get out of Jerusalem quickly, because they will not accept your testimony about me’ [Table] I replied, ‘Lord, they themselves know that I imprisoned and beat those in the various synagogues who believed in you. And when the blood of your witness Stephen was shed,¹¹ I myself was standing nearby, approving,¹² and guarding the cloaks of those who were killing him.’ Then he said to me, ‘Go, because I will send you far away to the Gentiles.’”

The crowd was listening to him until he said this. Then they raised their voices and shouted, “Away with this man from the earth! For he should not be allowed¹³ to live!”¹⁴

Despite all this calumny, Paul found no fault with the law except that it was weakened through the flesh.¹⁵ If we all were born only of the Spirit, and heard God say, You shall not commit adultery,¹⁶ we would all say, “Thank you, Lord, that’s what I didn’t want to do anyway!” In answer to the question then, Is the law (νόμος) sin? Paul said, Absolutely not! Certainly, I would not have known sin except through the law (νόμου, another form of νόμος).¹⁷

I might feel in myself that it is wrong for you to commit adultery with my wife. But I may not feel that it is wrong for me to commit adultery with your wife apart from the law. After all, I have good reasons. Your wife wants me and loves me, and I her. And she is beautiful, far more beautiful than you can possibly deserve. Look at you. Look at the way you treat her. Would she have any interest in me at all if you deserved her and treated her right? I’m doing you a favor, Pal. Face it! She’s just more woman than you can handle.

For indeed I would not have known what it means to desire something belonging to someone else, Paul continued, if the law (νόμος) had not said, “Do not covet.”¹⁸ There is a darker side to the flesh born of Adam that hears of God’s law, You shall not commit adultery, and denies that there is a god to say such things, or if there is He doesn’t know his place or He wouldn’t dare say such things, or even more directly, “Oh, yeah! Watch this!” But sin, Paul wrote, seizing the opportunity through the commandment, produced in me all kinds of wrong desires.¹⁹ I have a fairly good idea of at least some of the things Paul coveted (1 Corinthians 9:4-7; 2 Corinthians 12:11, 15 NET).

Do we not have the right to financial support? Do we not have the right to the company of a believing wife, like the other apostles and the Lord’s brothers and Cephas? Or do only Barnabas and I lack the right not²⁰ to work? Who ever serves in the army at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard and does not eat its fruit?²¹ Who tends a flock and does not consume its milk?

I have become a fool. You yourselves forced me to do it, for I should have been commended by you. For I lack nothing in comparison to those “super-apostles,” even though I am nothing [Table]...Now I will most gladly spend and be spent for your lives! If²² I love you more, am I to be loved less?²³

For apart from the law (νόμου, another form of νόμος), sin is dead,²⁴ Paul continued. Then he expounded on that theme from his own experience. And I was once alive apart from the law (νόμου, another form of νόμος), but with the coming of the commandment sin became alive and I died. So I found that the very commandment that was intended to bring life brought death! For sin, seizing the opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through it I died.²⁵ And again, I think this personification of sin is a reference to the old man that was crucified with Christ.²⁶ This all becomes clearer a bit later in Romans 7.

So then, the law (νόμος) is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous, and good,²⁷ Paul concluded.

Addendum: April 23, 2024
Tables comparing Acts 21:24; 22:16; 22:20; 22:22; 1 Corinthians 9:6, 7 and 2 Corinthians 12:15 in the KJV and NET follow.

Acts 21:24 (NET)	Acts 21:24 (KJV)
take them and purify yourself along with them and pay their expenses, so that they may have their heads shaved. Then everyone will know there is nothing in what they have been told about you, but that you yourself live in conformity with the law.	Them take, and purify thyself with them, and be at charges with them, that they may shave their heads: and all may know that those things, whereof they were informed concerning thee, are nothing; but that thou thyself also walkest orderly, and keepest the law.

Acts 21:24 (NET Parallel Greek)	Acts 21:24 (Stephanus Textus Receptus)	Acts 21:24 (Byzantine Majority Text)
τούτους παραλαβὼν ἁγνίσθητι σὺν αὐτοῖς καὶ δαπάνησον ἐπ᾿ αὐτοῖς ἵνα ξυρήσονται τὴν κεφαλήν, καὶ γνώσονται πάντες ὅτι ὧν κατήχηνται περὶ σοῦ οὐδέν ἐστιν ἀλλὰ στοιχεῖς καὶ αὐτὸς φυλάσσων τὸν νόμον	τουτους παραλαβων αγνισθητι συν αυτοις και δαπανησον επ αυτοις ινα ξυρησωνται την κεφαλην και γνωσιν παντες οτι ων κατηχηνται περι σου ουδεν εστιν αλλα στοιχεις και αυτος τον νομον φυλασσων	τουτους παραλαβων αγνισθητι συν αυτοις και δαπανησον επ αυτοις ινα ξυρησωνται την κεφαλην και γνωσιν παντες οτι ων κατηχηνται περι σου ουδεν εστιν αλλα στοιχεις και αυτος τον νομον φυλασσων

Acts 22:16 (NET)	Acts 22:16 (KJV)
And now what are you waiting for? Get up, be baptized, and have your sins washed away, calling on his name.’	And now why tarriest thou? arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord.

Acts 22:16 (NET Parallel Greek)	Acts 22:16 (Stephanus Textus Receptus)	Acts 22:16 (Byzantine Majority Text)
καὶ νῦν τί μέλλεις; ἀναστὰς βάπτισαι καὶ ἀπόλουσαι τὰς ἁμαρτίας σου ἐπικαλεσάμενος τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ	και νυν τι μελλεις αναστας βαπτισαι και απολουσαι τας αμαρτιας σου επικαλεσαμενος το ονομα του κυριου	και νυν τι μελλεις αναστας βαπτισαι και απολουσαι τας αμαρτιας σου επικαλεσαμενος το ονομα του κυριου

Acts 22:20 (NET)	Acts 22:20 (KJV)
And when the blood of your witness Stephen was shed, I myself was standing nearby, approving, and guarding the cloaks of those who were killing him.’	And when the blood of thy martyr Stephen was shed, I also was standing by, and consenting unto his death, and kept the raiment of them that slew him.

Acts 22:20 (NET Parallel Greek)	Acts 22:20 (Stephanus Textus Receptus)	Acts 22:20 (Byzantine Majority Text)
καὶ ὅτε ἐξεχύννετο τὸ αἷμα Στεφάνου τοῦ μάρτυρος σου, καὶ αὐτὸς ἤμην ἐφεστὼς καὶ συνευδοκῶν καὶ φυλάσσων τὰ ἱμάτια τῶν ἀναιρούντων αὐτόν	και οτε εξεχειτο το αιμα στεφανου του μαρτυρος σου και αυτος ημην εφεστως και συνευδοκων τη αναιρεσει αυτου και φυλασσων τα ιματια των αναιρουντων αυτον	και οτε εξεχειτο το αιμα στεφανου του μαρτυρος σου και αυτος ημην εφεστως και συνευδοκων τη αναιρεσει αυτου και φυλασσων τα ιματια των αναιρουντων αυτον

Acts 22:22 (NET)	Acts 22:22 (KJV)
The crowd was listening to him until he said this. Then they raised their voices and shouted, “Away with this man from the earth! For he should not be allowed to live!”	And they gave him audience unto this word, and then lifted up their voices, and said, Away with such a fellow from the earth: for it is not fit that he should live.

Acts 22:22 (NET Parallel Greek)	Acts 22:22 (Stephanus Textus Receptus)	Acts 22:22 (Byzantine Majority Text)
῎Ηκουον δὲ αὐτοῦ ἄχρι τούτου τοῦ λόγου καὶ ἐπῆραν τὴν φωνὴν αὐτῶν λέγοντες· αἶρε ἀπὸ τῆς γῆς τὸν τοιοῦτον, οὐ γὰρ καθῆκεν αὐτὸν ζῆν	ηκουον δε αυτου αχρι τουτου του λογου και επηραν την φωνην αυτων λεγοντες αιρε απο της γης τον τοιουτον ου γαρ καθηκον αυτον ζην	ηκουον δε αυτου αχρι τουτου του λογου και επηραν την φωνην αυτων λεγοντες αιρε απο της γης τον τοιουτον ου γαρ καθηκεν αυτον ζην

1 Corinthians 9:6, 7 (NET)	1 Corinthians 9:6, 7 (KJV)
Or do only Barnabas and I lack the right not to work?	Or I only and Barnabas, have not we power to forbear working?

1 Corinthians 9:6 (NET Parallel Greek)	1 Corinthians 9:6 (Stephanus Textus Receptus)	1 Corinthians 9:6 (Byzantine Majority Text)
ἢ μόνος ἐγὼ καὶ Βαρναβᾶς οὐκ ἔχομεν ἐξουσίαν μὴ ἐργάζεσθαι	η μονος εγω και βαρναβας ουκ εχομεν εξουσιαν του μη εργαζεσθαι	η μονος εγω και βαρναβας ουκ εχομεν εξουσιαν του μη εργαζεσθαι

Who ever serves in the army at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard and does not eat its fruit? Who tends a flock and does not consume its milk?

Who goeth a warfare any time at his own charges? who planteth a vineyard, and eateth not of the fruit thereof? or who feedeth a flock, and eateth not of the milk of the flock?

1 Corinthians 9:7 (NET Parallel Greek)	1 Corinthians 9:7 (Stephanus Textus Receptus)	1 Corinthians 9:7 (Byzantine Majority Text)
Τίς στρατεύεται ἰδίοις ὀψωνίοις ποτέ; τίς φυτεύει ἀμπελῶνα καὶ τὸν καρπὸν αὐτοῦ οὐκ ἐσθίει; \|ἢ\| τίς ποιμαίνει ποίμνην καὶ ἐκ τοῦ γάλακτος τῆς ποίμνης οὐκ ἐσθίει	τις στρατευεται ιδιοις οψωνιοις ποτε τις φυτευει αμπελωνα και εκ του καρπου αυτου ουκ εσθιει η τις ποιμαινει ποιμνην και εκ του γαλακτος της ποιμνης ουκ εσθιει	τις στρατευεται ιδιοις οψωνιοις ποτε τις φυτευει αμπελωνα και εκ του καρπου αυτου ουκ εσθιει η τις ποιμαινει ποιμνην και εκ του γαλακτος της ποιμνης ουκ εσθιει

2 Corinthians 12:15 (NET)	2 Corinthians 12:15 (KJV)
Now I will most gladly spend and be spent for your lives! If I love you more, am I to be loved less?	And I will very gladly spend and be spent for you; though the more abundantly I love you, the less I be loved.

2 Corinthians 12:15 (NET Parallel Greek)	2 Corinthians 12:15 (Stephanus Textus Receptus)	2 Corinthians 12:15 (Byzantine Majority Text)
ἐγὼ δὲ ἥδιστα δαπανήσω καὶ ἐκδαπανηθήσομαι ὑπὲρ τῶν ψυχῶν ὑμῶν. εἰ περισσοτέρως ὑμᾶς \|ἀγαπῶ[ν]\|, ἧσσον ἀγαπῶμαι	εγω δε ηδιστα δαπανησω και εκδαπανηθησομαι υπερ των ψυχων υμων ει και περισσοτερως υμας αγαπων ηττον αγαπωμαι	εγω δε ηδιστα δαπανησω και εκδαπανηθησομαι υπερ των ψυχων υμων ει και περισσοτερως υμας αγαπων ηττον αγαπωμαι

Romans, Part 28

Back to Romans, Part 37

Back to Son of God – 1 John, Part 3

Back to The Day of the Lord, Part 8

¹ Romans 7:1 (NET)

² Romans 6:3 (NET)

³ Romans 6:4 (NET)

⁴ Romans 7:5, 6 (NET)

⁵ Romans 7:7a (NET)

⁶ The NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ had ξυρήσονται here, a form of ξυράω in the future tense, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had ξυρησωνται (KJV: they may shave) in the aorist tense. Both are clearly describing an event that has not yet happened.

⁷ The NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ had γνώσονται here, a form of γινώσκω in the future tense, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had γνωσιν (KJV: may know) in the aorist tense. Both are clearly describing an event that has not yet happened.

⁸ Romans 10:1 (NET) Table

⁹ Acts 21:27, 28a (NET) Table

¹⁰ The NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ had αὐτοῦ following name, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had του κυριου (KJV: of the Lord).

¹¹ The NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ had ἐξεχύννετο here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had εξεχειτο.

¹² The Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had τη αναιρεσει αυτου (KJV: unto his death) following approving (KJV: consenting). The NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ did not.

¹³ The NET parallel Greek text, NA²⁸ and Byzantine Majority Text had καθῆκεν here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus had καθηκον (KJV: fit).

¹⁴ Acts 22:22 (NET)

¹⁵ Romans 8:3 (NET)

¹⁶ Exodus 20:14 (NET) Table

¹⁷ Romans 7:7a (NET)

¹⁸ Romans 7:7b (NET) Table comparing the Greek of Paul’s OT quote to the Septuagint.

¹⁹ Romans 7:8a (NET)

²⁰ The Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had the article του preceding not (KJV: to forbear). The NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ did not.

²¹ The NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ had τὸν καρπὸν in the accusative case here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had εκ του καρπου (KJV: of the fruit) in the genitive case.

²² The NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ had εἰ here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had ει και (KJV: though).

²³ The NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ had ἧσσον here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had ηττον.

²⁴ Romans 7:8b (NET)

²⁵ Romans 7:9-11 (NET)

²⁶ Romans 6:6 (NET)

²⁷ Romans 7:12 (NET)

Romans, Part 26

Posted on October 16, 2012 by admin

Therefore, Paul continued, do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey¹ (ὑπακούειν, a form of ὑπακούω) its desires (ἐπιθυμίαις, a form of ἐπιθυμία).² This is clearly Step #2 how to experience the credited righteousness of God apart from the law,³ namely, the righteousness of God through the faithfulness (πίστεως, a form of πίστις) of Jesus Christ for all who believe (πιστεύοντας, a form of πιστεύω).⁴ I think the next verse amplifies how one goes about not letting sin reign in one’s mortal body, and do not present your members to sin as instruments to be used for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as⁵ those who are alive from the dead and your members to God as instruments to be used for righteousness.⁶ So I am picturing something like this:

Step #2 to experience the righteousness of God through the faithfulness of Jesus Christ for all who believe.

…do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its desires.

Romans 6:12 (NET)

By…

…not present(ing) your members to sin as instruments to be used for unrighteousness…

Romans 6:13a (NET)

…present(ing) yourselves to God as those who are alive from the dead and your members to God as instruments to be used for righteousness.

Romans 6:13b (NET)

It sounds so simple, but there is no door marked “sin” beside a door marked “God” where I might present myself for service. This transaction, if you will, takes place in the deepest, darkest places of an individual born from above, born of flesh and born of the Spirit,⁷ moment by moment. In fact, Paul described this individual as a house divided, For the flesh has desires that are opposed to the Spirit, and the Spirit has desires that are opposed to the flesh, for these are in opposition to each other, so that you cannot do what you want.⁸ So then, Paul concluded in Romans 7, with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin.⁹

There is a cartoon image of a human being with a little devil i on one shoulder whispering in one ear and a little angel i whispering in the other. In the center between them am I, writ large, the Master of My Fate, choosing sin or righteousness. With this self-image I discounted the value of Step #1—to consider (λογίζεσθε, a form of λογίζομαι) [myself] dead (νεκροὺς, a form of νεκρός) to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus¹⁰—as I magnified the importance of Step #2, not to let sin reign in [my] mortal body so that [I] obey[ed] its desires. So I set out not to break, or to keep, the laws that define sin, and unwittingly played directly into sin’s strength: the power (δύναμις) of sin is the law.¹¹ Had I paid more attention to faith I might have grasped Paul’s next point sooner. For sin will have no mastery over you, because you are not under law (ὑπὸ νόμον) but¹² under grace (ὑπὸ χάριν).¹³

This personification of sin was not magical thinking on Paul’s part. What he was writing about actually becomes clearer in Romans 7. The sin that will not master the one who believes in Jesus is nothing other than the old man that was crucified with him so that the body (σῶμα) of sin would no longer dominate us.¹⁴ I am not refereeing a battle of wills between a little devil i and a little angel i. I am the old man of sin, or I am the new man of the Spirit. Both are in this body (σῶμα). Both want control. The old man was crucified by faith in Jesus Christ. The new man was created out of nothing through faith in Jesus Christ. Believing in Jesus Christ is far more important than anything either I, the dead and dying old man or the initially alien new man, might do. [Addendum April 15, 2024: While I don’t want to minimize the importance of faith in Christ, recognizing the union between Christ and this new man causes me to wonder if I have overstated this a bit.] And I am persuaded that the illusion that I am a third something choosing between them is nothing more than the pride of life (1 John 2:15-17 NKJV).

Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but¹⁵ is of the world. And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.

What then? Paul continued. Shall we sin¹⁶ because we are not under law (ὑπὸ νόμον) but¹⁷ under grace (ὑπὸ χάριν)? Absolutely not!¹⁸ Paul’s reasoning here was a truism, a simple matter of definition. Do you not know (οἴδατε, a form of εἴδω; i.e., know by seeing) that if you present yourselves as obedient (ὑπακοήν, a form of ὑπακοή) slaves, you are slaves of the one you obey (ὑπακούετε, another form of ὑπακούω), either of sin [the desire of the old man] resulting in death, or obedience (ὑπακοῆς, another form of ὑπακοή) [the desire of the new man] resulting in righteousness?¹⁹

I am convinced that words like obey, obedient, and obedience with their insistent emphasis on doing are part of the things of this world, the pride of life where I am the Master of My Fate, choosing to do the good or to do the evil. In Greek the word translated obey is ὑπακούω, to hear under, in other words to trust. The word translated obedient or obedience is ὑπακοή, attentive hearkening, in other words to believe. These are other words, perhaps even better words, for faith and believe than πίστις and πιστεύω, for no one could mistake them for πίστεως μόνον (faith alone), or dead faith. And again, this makes perfect sense if one is interested in experiencing the righteousness of God…revealed in the gospel from faith (πίστεως, a form of πίστις) to faith (πίστιν, another form of πίστις), just as it is written, “The righteous by faith (πίστεως, a form of πίστις) will live.”²⁰

But thanks be to God that though you were slaves to sin, you obeyed (ὑπηκούσατε, another form of ὑπακούω) from the heart that pattern of teaching you were entrusted to, and having been freed from sin, you became enslaved to righteousness.²¹ So I ὑπακούω, hear under, trust, the word of God rather than becoming ὑπακοή to, hearkening attentively to, believing, the promptings and desires of the old man, the man of sin created in the image of Adam. Of course I will do things. But now those things, rather than being the acts of an actor, will flow naturally from who I hear under (trust, hearken attentively to, believe) through who I am (the new man born of the Spirit in the image and likeness of God) and then out into the world.

The writer of Hebrews described it this way: Consequently a Sabbath rest remains for the people of God. For the one who enters God’s rest has also rested from his works, just as God did from his own works.²² Even the law comes into sharper focus: Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy,²³ not for a day of the week but for the remainder of a lifetime. And Jesus’ word is fulfilled: But the one who practices the truth comes to the light, so that it may be plainly evident that his deeds have been done in God.²⁴ It also explains Jesus’ rather obstinate insistence on doing good on the Sabbath day, despite the bitterness and resentment it aroused: So it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.²⁵

The writer of Hebrews continued with the following warning (Hebrews 4:11-13 NET):

Thus we must make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by following the same pattern of disobedience [i.e., fearfully refusing to enter the promised land]. For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any double-edged sword, piercing even to the point of dividing soul from spirit, and joints from marrow; it is able to judge the desires and thoughts of the heart [Table]. And no creature is hidden from God, but everything is naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must render an account.

Paul realized he had not yet explained what would be explained in the next chapter. He recognized that his readers may misunderstand his words (Romans 6:19-23 NET).

(I am speaking in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh.) For just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification. For when you were slaves of sin, you were free with regard to righteousness. So what benefit did you then reap from those things that you are now ashamed of? For the end of those things is death. But now, freed from sin and enslaved to God, you have your benefit leading to sanctification, and the end is eternal life. For the payoff of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Addendum: April 15, 2024
Tables comparing Romans 6:12; 6:13; 6:14; 1 John 2:16 and Romans 6:15 in the NET and KJV follow.

Romans 6:12 (NET)	Romans 6:12 (KJV)
Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its desires,	Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof.

Romans 6:12 (NET Parallel Greek)	Romans 6:12 (Stephanus Textus Receptus)	Romans 6:12 (Byzantine Majority Text)
Μὴ οὖν βασιλευέτω ἡ ἁμαρτία ἐν τῷ θνητῷ ὑμῶν σώματι εἰς τὸ ὑπακούειν ταῖς ἐπιθυμίαις αὐτοῦ	μη ουν βασιλευετω η αμαρτια εν τω θνητω υμων σωματι εις το υπακουειν αυτη εν ταις επιθυμιαις αυτου	μη ουν βασιλευετω η αμαρτια εν τω θνητω υμων σωματι εις το υπακουειν αυτη εν ταις επιθυμιαις αυτου

Romans 6:13 (NET)	Romans 6:13 (KJV)
and do not present your members to sin as instruments to be used for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who are alive from the dead and your members to God as instruments to be used for righteousness.	Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God.

Romans 6:13 (NET Parallel Greek)	Romans 6:13 (Stephanus Textus Receptus)	Romans 6:13 (Byzantine Majority Text)
μηδὲ παριστάνετε τὰ μέλη ὑμῶν ὅπλα ἀδικίας τῇ ἁμαρτίᾳ, ἀλλὰ παραστήσατε ἑαυτοὺς τῷ θεῷ ὡσεὶ ἐκ νεκρῶν ζῶντας καὶ τὰ μέλη ὑμῶν ὅπλα δικαιοσύνης τῷ θεῷ	μηδε παριστανετε τα μελη υμων οπλα αδικιας τη αμαρτια αλλα παραστησατε εαυτους τω θεω ως εκ νεκρων ζωντας και τα μελη υμων οπλα δικαιοσυνης τω θεω	μηδε παριστανετε τα μελη υμων οπλα αδικιας τη αμαρτια αλλα παραστησατε εαυτους τω θεω ως εκ νεκρων ζωντας και τα μελη υμων οπλα δικαιοσυνης τω θεω

Romans 6:14 (NET)	Romans 6:14 (KJV)
For sin will have no mastery over you, because you are not under law but under grace.	The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law.

Romans 6:14 (NET Parallel Greek)	Romans 6:14 (Stephanus Textus Receptus)	Romans 6:14 (Byzantine Majority Text)
ἁμαρτία γὰρ ὑμῶν οὐ κυριεύσει· οὐ γάρ ἐστε ὑπὸ νόμον ἀλλὰ ὑπὸ χάριν	αμαρτια γαρ υμων ου κυριευσει ου γαρ εστε υπο νομον αλλ υπο χαριν	αμαρτια γαρ υμων ου κυριευσει ου γαρ εστε υπο νομον αλλ υπο χαριν

1 John 2:16 (NET)	1 John 2:16 (KJV)
because all that is in the world (the desire of the flesh and the desire of the eyes and the arrogance produced by material possessions) is not from the Father, but is from the world.	For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.

1 John 2:16 (NET Parallel Greek)	1 John 2:16 (Stephanus Textus Receptus)	1 John 2:16 (Byzantine Majority Text)
ὅτι πᾶν τὸ ἐν τῷ κόσμῳ (ἡ ἐπιθυμία τῆς σαρκὸς καὶ ἡ ἐπιθυμία τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν καὶ ἡ ἀλαζονεία τοῦ βίου) οὐκ ἔστιν ἐκ τοῦ πατρὸς ἀλλὰ ἐκ τοῦ κόσμου ἐστίν	οτι παν το εν τω κοσμω η επιθυμια της σαρκος και η επιθυμια των οφθαλμων και η αλαζονεια του βιου ουκ εστιν εκ του πατρος αλλ εκ του κοσμου εστιν	οτι παν το εν τω κοσμω η επιθυμια της σαρκος και η επιθυμια των οφθαλμων και η αλαζονεια του βιου ουκ εστιν εκ του πατρος αλλ εκ του κοσμου εστιν

Romans 6:15 (NET)	Romans 6:15 (KJV)
What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? Absolutely not!	What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid.

Romans 6:15 (NET Parallel Greek)	Romans 6:15 (Stephanus Textus Receptus)	Romans 6:15 (Byzantine Majority Text)
Τί οὖν; ἁμαρτήσωμεν, ὅτι οὐκ ἐσμὲν ὑπὸ νόμον ἀλλὰ ὑπὸ χάριν; μὴ γένοιτο	τι ουν αμαρτησομεν οτι ουκ εσμεν υπο νομον αλλ υπο χαριν μη γενοιτο	τι ουν αμαρτησομεν οτι ουκ εσμεν υπο νομον αλλ υπο χαριν μη γενοιτο

Romans, Part 27

Back to Romans, Part 28

Back to Peter’s Way?

Back to Fear – Exodus, Part 8

Back to Condemnation or Judgment? – Part 5

Back to Fear – Numbers, Part 2

Back to Romans, Part 52

Back to Condemnation or Judgment? – Part 8

Back to Romans, Part 54

Back to Romans, Part 59

Back to Condemnation or Judgment? – Part 12

Back to Romans, Part 79

Back to Romans, Part 81

Back to Fear – Deuteronomy, Part 3

Back to Sowing to the Flesh, Part 2

Back to Father, Forgive Them – Part 1

Back to Fear – Deuteronomy, Part 9

Back to Forgiven or Passed Over? Part 3

Back to To Make Holy, Part 4

Back to Atonement, Part 4

Back to Peter’s First Gospel Proclamation Revisited, Part 1

Back to A Shadow of the Good Things, Part 3

Back to Christ-Centered Preaching, Chapter 1

¹ The Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had αυτη εν (KJV: it in) following obey. The NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ did not.

² Romans 6:12 (NET)

³ Romans 3:21 (NET)

⁴ Romans 3:22 (NET) Table

⁵ The NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ had ὡσεὶ here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had ως.

⁶ Romans 6:13 (NET)

⁷ John 3:6 (NET)

⁸ Galatians 5:17 (NET) Table

⁹ Romans 7:25b (NKJV) Table

¹⁰ Romans 6:11 (NET) Table

¹¹ 1 Corinthians 15:56b (NET)

¹² The NET parallel Greek text had ἀλλὰ here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus, Byzantine Majority Text and NA²⁸ had ἀλλ’.

¹³ Romans 6:14 (NET)

¹⁴ Romans 6:6 (NET)

¹⁵ The NET parallel Greek text had ἀλλὰ here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus, Byzantine Majority Text and NA²⁸ had ἀλλ’.

¹⁶ The NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ had ἁμαρτήσωμεν here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had αμαρτησομεν.

¹⁷ The NET parallel Greek text had ἀλλὰ here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus, Byzantine Majority Text and NA²⁸ had ἀλλ’.

¹⁸ Romans 6:15 (NET)

¹⁹ Romans 6:16 (NET)

²⁰ Romans 1:17 (NET)

²¹ Romans 6:17, 18 (NET)

²² Hebrews 4:9-10 (NET)

²³ Exodus 20:8 (NKJV) Table

²⁴ John 3:21 (NET)

²⁵ Matthew 12:12b (NET)

Romans, Part 25

Posted on October 15, 2012 by admin

What shall we say then? Paul continued. Are we to remain (ἐπιμένωμεν, a form of ἐπιμένω) in sin so that grace (χάρις) may increase (πλεονάσῃ, a form of πλεονάζω)?¹ This is a reasonable question considering what Paul wrote earlier: Now the law (νόμος) came in so that the transgression (παράπτωμα) may increase (πλεονάσῃ, a form of πλεονάζω), but where sin (ἁμαρτία) increased (ἐπλεόνασεν, another form of πλεονάζω), grace multiplied (ὑπερεπερίσσευσεν, a form of ὑπερπερισσεύω) all the more…² If grace rose to meet the challenge posed by the law (increased transgression and a superabundance of sin), is remaining or continuing in sin the new way of grace?

Absolutely not! Paul continued. How can we who died (ἀπεθάνομεν, a form of ἀποθνήσκω) to sin still live in it?³ Death still has a value and necessity to it, just not the value and necessity I learned in science, history or government classes in school. Or do you not know (ἀγνοεῖτε, a form of ἀγνοέω) that as many as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death (θάνατον, a form of θάνατος)?⁴ I spent some time calling Paul, and by extension Jesus who called him, a liar over this, because I didn’t find anything in myself at first that I recognized as dead to sin. I didn’t get anywhere until I turned around and was willing to believe.

Therefore we have been buried with him through baptism into death (θάνατον, a form of θάνατος), in order that just as Christ was raised from the dead (νεκρῶν, a form of νεκρός) through the glory of the Father, so we too may live a new life.⁵ So I see the first value of this death, perhaps even a necessity. Then Paul made a couple of comparisons of the believer’s relationship to Christ’s death and resurrection.

Christ’s death

Christ’s resurrection

For if we have become united with him in the likeness of his death…

Romans 6:5a (NET)

…we will certainly also be united in the likeness of his resurrection.

Romans 6:5b (NET)

The word translated united in Romans 6:5a above is σύμφυτοι (a form of σύμφυτος). It is only used once in the Bible, but is a compound of a form of σύν (a primary preposition denoting union) and φύω (to germinate or grow). I am reminded of Jesus when He was told that Greeks wanted to see him (John 12:23-28 NET).

Jesus replied, “The time has come for the Son of Man to be glorified [Table]. I tell you the solemn truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains by itself alone (μόνος). But if it dies, it produces much grain (καρπὸν, a form of καρπός; literally “fruit”). The one who loves his life destroys it, and the one who hates his life in this world guards it for eternal life [Table]. If anyone wants to serve me, he must follow me, and where I am, my servant will be too. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him [Table]. Now my soul is greatly distressed. And what should I say? ‘Father, deliver me from this hour’? No, but for this very reason I have come to this hour. Father, glorify your name.”

These are encouraging words to follow Jesus in this death, where following is simply believing. For what can a kernel of wheat buried in the dirt do, but believe? It doesn’t know how to germinate or grow. We know (γινώσκοντες, a form of γινώσκω) that our old man was crucified with him so that the body of sin would no longer dominate us, Paul continued, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. (For someone who has died [ἀποθανὼν, another form of ἀποθνήσκω] has been freed from sin.)⁶ Here is a second value for this death, and perhaps even a necessity. But I only knew this at first by faith. This particular kernel of wheat buried in the dirt was still walking around, still working,⁷ that is to say still doing some (perhaps many) of the sinful things he did before he was a dead kernel of wheat buried in the dirt.

Christ’s death

Christ’s resurrection

Now if we died (ἀπεθάνομεν, a form of ἀποθνήσκω) with Christ…

Romans 6:8a (NET)

…we believe (πιστεύομεν, a form of πιστεύω) that we will also live with him.

Romans 6:8b (NET)

We know (εἰδότες, a form of εἴδω), Paul continued, that since Christ has been raised from the dead (νεκρῶν, a form of νεκρός), he is never going to die (ἀποθνῄσκει, another form of ἀποθνήσκω) again; death (θάνατος) no longer has mastery (κυριεύει, a form of κυριεύω) over him. For the death he died (ἀπέθανεν, another form of ἀποθνήσκω), he died (ἀπέθανεν, another form of ἀποθνήσκω) to sin once for all, but the life he lives, he lives to God.⁸ I could see that in regard to Jesus. So you too consider (λογίζεσθε, a form of λογίζομαι) yourselves⁹ dead (νεκροὺς, another form of νεκρός) to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus.¹⁰

This for me is where Romans becomes a how-to book, how to experience the credited righteousness of God apart from the law,¹¹ namely, the righteousness of God through the faithfulness (πίστεως, a form of πίστις) of Jesus Christ for all who believe (πιστεύοντας, another form of πιστεύω).¹² Step #1 is to believe something, not entirely unexpected if one remembers that this is the righteousness of God…revealed in the gospel from faith (πίστεως, a form of πίστις) to faith (πίστιν, another form of πίστις), just as it is written, “The righteous by faith (πίστεως, a form of πίστις) will live.”¹³ So no matter how I appear to others, or how I appear to myself, I consider (reason, count, credit) myself dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus. As Paul said (Galatians 2:20, 21 NET):

I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So the life I now live in the body, I live because of the faithfulness (πίστει, another form of πίστις) of the Son of God, who loved (ἀγαπήσαντος, a form of ἀγαπάω) me and gave (παραδόντος, a form of παραδίδωμι) himself for me. I do not set aside (ἀθετῶ, a form of ἀθετέω) God’s grace (χάριν, a form of χάρις), because if righteousness could come through the law (νόμου, another form of νόμος), then Christ died (ἀπέθανεν, another form of ἀποθνήσκω) for nothing!

Addendum: April 4, 2024
A table comparing the Greek of Romans 6:11 in the NET and KJV follow.

Romans 6:11 (NET)	Romans 6:11 (KJV)
So you too consider yourselves dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus.	Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Romans 6:11 (NET Parallel Greek)	Romans 6:11 (Stephanus Textus Receptus)	Romans 6:11 (Byzantine Majority Text)
οὕτως καὶ ὑμεῖς λογίζεσθε ἑαυτοὺς νεκροὺς μὲν τῇ ἁμαρτίᾳ ζῶντας δὲ τῷ θεῷ ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ	ουτως και υμεις λογιζεσθε εαυτους νεκρους μεν ειναι τη αμαρτια ζωντας δε τω θεω εν χριστω ιησου τω κυριω ημων	ουτως και υμεις λογιζεσθε εαυτους νεκρους μεν ειναι τη αμαρτια ζωντας δε τω θεω εν χριστω ιησου τω κυριω ημων

Romans, Part 26

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