Tag Archives: Romans 6:5

Condemnation or Judgment? – Part 12

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I am considering a pastor’s advice offered in another blog as an example of confusing directions and as a case in point: If wicked (râshâʽ, לרשע) sinners (raʽ, רע) are those who refuse to stop trusting in human beings, whether others or themselves, we all qualify.  And this journey to discover just who these sinners are was prompted by my bias that—He shall strike the earth with the rod of His mouth, And with the breath of His lips He shall slay the wicked[1] (râshâʽ, רשע)—prophesies Jesus’ return to earth to preach the Gospel effectively (as opposed to executing people for a thousand years).

The pastor’s advice was essentially a to-do list: refuse, consider the consequences, focus on God and ignore the lies of the enemy, avoid/run, and accountability.  I considered the first two in the previous essay and will pick up again here.

Focus on God and ignore the lies of the enemy
Find fulfillment in your first love and ignore the enemy’s temptation towards the satisfaction of the flesh.

I have no quarrel with this if it is by the Holy Spirit.  This should be item number one on the list.  I, however, found a way to attempt this in the flesh.  My Dad could calculate how much I cost him to the penny, even a scuff mark on the floor.  I had already cost Jesus his life.  I didn’t want to cost Him anything more.  I thought my emotions in response to his sacrifice should motivate me to live a sinless life.  (I don’t think I even considered righteousness at the time or anything beyond not sinning.)  So, I didn’t believe Paul’s words in the sixth chapter of Romans were true, but merely hyperbole to affect my emotions, to motivate ME to action, not something I should believe to be saved (Romans 6:3, 4 NET):

Or do you not know that as many as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?  Therefore we 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 we too may live a new life.

That new life (ἐν καινότητι ζωῆς περιπατήσωμεν; walk in newness of life [ESV]) is here and now: Now this is eternal life – that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you sent.[2]  For if we have become united with him in the likeness of his death,[3] Paul continued; that is if we believe that we have been buried with him through baptism into death, then and only then we will certainly also be united in the likeness of his resurrection.[4]

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.[5]  Should I deny this because of my behavior?  No, I believe until it changes my behavior.  Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him.[6]  Paul continued (Romans 6:11-14 NET):

So you too consider yourselves dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus.

Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its desires, 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.  For sin will have no mastery over you, because you are not under law but under grace.

But if I attempt to find fulfillment in laws or rules or procedures, even the pastor’s to-do list, I have fallen away from grace and committed a superπορνεία.  And that is essentially the context of the concept first [e.g., foremost as opposed to first in temporal order] love: But I have this against you, Jesus said to the church at Ephesus, You have departed from your first love![7]

[Addendum 8/16/16: The words translated you and your are singular.  Though the letters were intended to be read by the churches the content is addressed primarily to the angel of each individual church.  I found a pdf online with color codes highlighting when the pronouns and verbs are singular and plural.  The commentary to the right of this pdf assumes that angel meant human pastor, which I also assumed until very recently.  I haven’t thought through the implications yet of angel as a higher order being in this particular context.  I don’t know whether a plural church might be addressed with singular pronouns and verbs.  My understanding of the message to/about the church in Ephesus which follows was predicated on a false assumption that the pronouns and verbs were plural.]

I know your works as well as your labor and steadfast endurance, He had said previously, and that you cannot tolerate evil.  You have even put to the test those who refer to themselves as apostles (but are not), and have discovered that they are false.  I am also aware that you have persisted steadfastly, endured much for the sake of my name, and have not grown weary.[8]

The Ephesian church was a successful church.  Am I wrong to imagine that they had developed offices and procedures, filled with officers operating under strict protocols?  That they had constructed this self-sustaining church with their own hands?  But what happens when the love which is the fulfillment (πλήρωμα) of the law[9] becomes an office, a ministry, a subdivision of the Church rather than the fruit of the Spirit empowering every individual believer?  Therefore, remember from what high state you have fallen and repent, Jesus continued.  Do the deeds you did at the first [e.g., first in temporal order since knowing Christ]; if not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place – that is, if you do not repent.[10]  In other words, their first (πρῶτα, a form of πρῶτος) deeds when they were more faithful and less successfully sophisticated were their foremost (πρώτην, another form of πρῶτος) in Jesus’ eyes.

What was that high state?  I take Paul’s prayer as my starting point (Ephesians 3:14-19 NET):

I kneel before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on the earth is named.  I pray that according to the wealth of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit (πνεύματος, a form of πνεῦμα) in the inner person, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, so that, because you have been rooted and grounded in love, you may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and thus to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled up (πληρωθῆτε, another form of πληρόω) to all the fullness (πλήρωμα) of God.

I don’t have much to say about ignoring “the enemy’s temptation toward the satisfaction of the flesh.”  Satan is finite.  I doubt that many of us merit his personal attention.  I was confronted by what I assume was a demon once.  I don’t recall what it said.  I said something like, “Jesus wouldn’t like it if I did that.”  It growled and left.  No, I wasn’t frightened in the moment, but the memory of it bothered me for weeks.  That’s probably why I don’t remember what it said.

So submit to God, James wrote.  But resist the devil and he will flee from you.[11]  I’ve never found resisting the devil particularly helpful since temptation usually comes from my own desires: But each one is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desires.[12]  Though I didn’t always think so, I now assume that the sin in my flesh (Romans 7:15-20) and the evil ideas, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, and slander that come out of my heart function apart from the inspiration or activation of demons, evil spirits or devils.  Believing the Gospel is far more fruitful as it pertains to sin and righteousness.  Perhaps I am being very slow and dense.  Believing the Gospel is probably the best way to submit to God which is in turn the most powerful way to resist the devil relative to any frontal assault I might mount on my own.

Nathan’s response to David, however, has been particularly helpful with sexual temptation (2 Samuel 12:1-4 NET):

So the Lord (yehôvâh, יהוה) sent Nathan to David.  When he came to David, Nathan said, “There were two men in a certain city, one rich and the other poor (Table).  The rich man had a great many flocks and herds (Table).  But the poor man had nothing except for a little lamb he had acquired.  He raised it, and it grew up alongside him and his children.  It used to eat his food, drink from his cup, and sleep in his arms.  It was just like a daughter to him (Table).

“When a traveler arrived at the rich man’s home, he did not want to use one of his own sheep or cattle to feed the traveler who had come to visit him.  Instead, he took the poor man’s lamb and cooked it for the man who had come to visit him (Table).”

Here there is no mention of resisting the devil or the “lies of the enemy.”  After David committed adultery with Uriah’s wife, Nathan as yehôvâh’s prophet pictured sexual desire as a hungry traveler who should be shown hospitality with that which is one’s own as opposed to that belonging to another.

Avoid/Run
Keep yourself out of a situation that may cause you to fall. If tempted, run while it’s still light.

Flee sexual immorality (πορνείαν, a form of πορνεία),[13] Paul wrote the Corinthians.  I’ve written elsewhere what I think about πορνεία, that it can mean adultery.  I think the “sin of premarital sex,” however, has more to do with middle-class values than yehôvâh’s law.  It is unfortunate, to say the least, that the meaning of πορνεία was stretched to free young men primarily (when they repent of their “sins of premarital sex”) from their marital obligations to pursue their educations and higher earning potentials.

I expect Jesus to speak to us as He spoke to other religious people (Mark 7:6-9 NET):

“Isaiah prophesied correctly about you hypocrites [e.g., actors], as it is written: ‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me.  They worship me in vain, teaching as doctrine the commandments of men.’  Having no regard for the command of God, you hold fast to human tradition.”  He also said to them, “You neatly reject the commandment of God in order to set up your tradition.”

Be that as it may if temptation is external to the one being tempted, leaving is good advice.  If you find that you only lust in your heart during or after your visit to a strip club, stop going to strip clubs.  I think that coincides well with flee πορνείαν if Paul meant sexualized pagan worship: Don’t go to church there.

I won’t eat at Hooter’s, not because I lust after the young waitresses.  I stared a nude woman dead in the eyes when I needed to talk to her on set.  But put a clothed woman in front of me with great cleavage and my eyes wander away from hers, even away from her lips (and I do a lot more lip reading as I age).  Well, they don’t mind, a friend told me.  I do.  An old man like me staring at young women’s cleavage is embarrassing and not worth the effort it takes not to do it.  I get my chicken wings to go (and, yes, I tip my waitress).

Music was the big thing for me.  I consider myself a recovering musician.  For years I played nothing but hymns and tried to compose a non-sensual music.  I didn’t know how to do that so I wrote music to accompany Scripture.  The only thing that changed was the calendar-age of the women I gave goose bumps when I played.  Eventually I gave it up and have been relieved not to have music in my head all the time.  This is not to say that playing or composing music is inherently evil.  I am considering only my hyper-sensual relationship to music.  Frank Zappa described it best.  Who knows, maybe it was his relationship, too.

I would like to highlight two rather obvious limits to fleeing and to the meaning of πορνεία.  If anyone thinks he is acting inappropriately toward his virgin, if she is past the bloom of youth and it seems necessary, he should do what he wishes; he does not sin.  Let them marry.[14]  The Greek word translated thinks he is acting inappropriately is ἀσχημονεῖν (a form of ἀσχημονέω).  To what manner of inappropriateness does ἀσχημονεῖν refer?  It comes from ἀσχήμων, which Paul used obliquely for the penis or vagina a little later in this letter: and those members we consider less honorable we clothe with greater honor, and our unpresentable members (ἀσχήμονα, a form of ἀσχήμων) are clothed with dignity…[15]

Love, by the way, does not act inappropriately: It is not rude (ἀσχημονεῖ, another form of ἀσχημονέω).[16]  So we have behavior between a man and his woman that is not sin: Let them marry.  And it is not love either.  Again, I will make my appeal for fuck and fucking.  They are very evocative words in the English language, distinguished and distinguishable from love, if we abandon our religious pretensions in favor of accurate verbal communication.

Therefore they were seeking again to seize Him, and He eluded their grasp.[17]  I remember vividly the moment I stared at this verse and realized it wasn’t describing some otherworldly event.  Jesus hiked up his skirt, hoofed it and outran the old men who wanted to stone Him.  And I imagine young John was huffing it out right beside Him.  As they lost their pursuers around a corner, leaned against a wall to catch their breath and laughed together, the Son of God became human to me.

Perhaps Simon the Pharisee expected Jesus to hike up his skirt and hoof it, if He were a prophet.  Had Jesus fled from Mary we would have a very different story to consider.  Maybe it would be more to our liking; that’s difficult to say.

I’ll conclude this in another essay.

Condemnation or Judgment? – Part 13

Back to The Angels Will Gather

Back to Paul’s Religious Mind Revisited – Part 1

[1] Isaiah 11:4b (NIV)

[2] John 17:3 (NET)

[3] Romans 6:5a (NET)

[4] Romans 6:5b (NET)

[5] Romans 6:6 (NET)

[6] Romans 6:8 (NET)

[7] Revelation 2:4 (NET)

[8] Revelation 2:2, 3 (NET)

[9] Romans 13:10b (NET)

[10] Revelation 2:5 (NET)

[11] James 4:7 (NET)

[12] James 1:14 (NET)

[13] 1 Corinthians 6:18a (NET)

[14] 1 Corinthians 7:36 (NET)

[15] 1 Corinthians 12:23 (NET)

[16] 1 Corinthians 13:5a (NET)

[17] John 10:39 (NASB)

Romans, Part 32

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For you did not receive the spirit of slavery leading again to fear (φόβον, a form of φόβος), Paul continued, but you received the Spirit of adoption, by whom we cry, “Abba, Father.”1  Human beings have been afraid of God ever since Adam died and hid from Him, saying, and I was afraid because I was naked.2  That is καὶ ἐφοβήθην (a form of φοβέω) ὅτι γυμνός εἰμι3 in the Septuagint, literally, “and I was afraid because naked I am.”   And naked we still are, because no creature is hidden from God, but everything is naked (γυμνὰ, a form of γυμνός) and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must render an account (λόγος).4  It is fitting that the fear that came upon us when Adam sinned is banished in Christ.

The word Abba is the childish word for father [Addendum 9/5/2024: or perhaps not].  It reminds me of the picture of John John Kennedy peeking out from under his father’s desk in the oval office at the White House.  In October of 1962 President Kennedy was the most feared man on the planet, with the power to plunge the world into nuclear war.  But to John John, he was Daddy.  The Spirit himself bears witness to our spirit that we are God’s children.  And if children, then heirs (namely, heirs of God and also fellow heirs with Christ) – if indeed we suffer with (συμπάσχομεν, a form of συμπάσχω) him so we may also be glorified with (συνδοξασθῶμεν, a form of συνδοξάζω) him.5

There are many things someone might suffer, but this linkage of suffer with him so we may also be glorified with him leads me back to chapter 6: Therefore we have been buried with him through baptism into death, in order that just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory (δόξης, a form of δόξα) of the Father, so we too may live a new life.6  Once Jesus’ disciples knew that He was the Christ, the Son of the living God7 he instructed them8 not to tell anyone.9

From that time on Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer (παθεῖν, a form of πάσχω) many things at the hands of the elders, chief priests, and experts in the law, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.10

So Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him: “God forbid, Lord!  This must not happen to you!”11  Mark emphasized that Jesus spoke openly about this.  So Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him.12  But [Jesus] turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan!  You are a stumbling block to me, because you are not setting your mind on God’s interests, but on man’s” [Table].  Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If anyone wants to become my follower, he must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.13  And Paul wrote, For if we have become united with him in the likeness of his death, we will certainly also be united in the likeness of his resurrection.14

So the suffering Paul had in mind I think was primarily the frustration and inner confusion associated with this death and resurrection experience, particularly that neither I (old man born of the flesh nor new man born of the Spirit) can do what I want:  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.15  I’ve written in another essay in more detail that I think the essence of taking up one’s cross to follow Jesus in this death is not my will but yours be done,16 and a few more ideas about this suffering of death in another.  For I consider that our present sufferings (παθήματα, a form of πάθημα) cannot even be compared to the glory that will be revealed to us,17 Paul continued (Romans 8:19-21 NET).

For the creation eagerly waits for the revelation of the sons of God [e.g., all who are led by the Spirit of God18].  For the creation was subjected to futility – not willingly but because of God who subjected it – in19 hope that the creation itself will also be set free from the bondage (δουλείας, a form of δουλεία) of decay (φθορᾶς, a form of φθορά) into the glorious freedom of God’s children.

In school I learned about evolution, that marvelous creative force that made everything we see today.  In my real life I travel from medical conference to medical conference where I hear about genetic defects and diseases, the bondage of decay, the actual observable results of evolution.  The palliation of genetic defects and diseases is one of our last locally produced products and a mainspring of our economy.  While medical researchers may intend to find “cures” for genetic defects and diseases good economic sense would argue against that.  But there is another more pressing problem to consider, more long range and more far reaching.

Those who are faithful to their creator evolution, what I will call the evolutionary mind, face a daunting problem when it comes to “cures” for the products of evolution.  To my mind a cure would be found along the lines of investigation leading to an understanding of God’s original design of the genetic code for humankind.  This would not be conceivable to the evolutionary mind.  There was no grand design, no right way for the code to be written.  It was all happenstance that happened to produce life-forms that survived under given conditions.  For the evolutionary mind a “cure” must come from one’s own mind, evaluating the conditions people must thrive under and “Imagineering” so to speak how the code should read to accommodate those conditions.

Just as an aside, it occurs to me that back-breeding (e.g., inter-racial marriage) is still quite effective to overcoming some of the genetic burden that continues to accumulate over time.  When I was young such marriage was a curiosity.  Now inter-racial marriage seems to be a positive symptom of enlightened thinking among many young people.  If that trend continues and becomes standard practice it may well alleviate the necessity for any more Draconian measures forbidding intra-racial marriage.  And to my way of thinking it is the religious mind that would stand in the way of inter-racial marriage much like it would have bridled at God’s decrees against intra-familial marriage when genetic burden made that necessary.

Paul’s point, however, was that those who trust in Christ, or more specifically those led by the Spirit of God, wait for God’s solution, that the creation itself will also be set free from the bondage of decay into the glorious freedom of God’s children.  While the children don’t know exactly how this will take place, they assume it is along the lines of death and resurrection that they are experiencing, a destruction by fire and a creation of new heavens and a new earth (2 Peter 3:8-13 NET).  Ultimately, the children trust that Abba, Daddy has everything under control.  The scorn and ridicule that elicits from those with an evolutionary mind may also be part of the suffering Paul wrote about.

For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers together (συνωδίνει, a form of συνωδίνω) until now.  Not only this, but we ourselves also, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we eagerly await our adoption, the redemption of our bodies.  For in hope we were saved.  Now hope that is seen is not hope, because who hopes20 for what he sees?21

This is what convinced me that for Paul, So then, with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin,22 and, 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,23 were normative for the believer’s experience here on earth.  They are the suffering to which he referred.  Even being led by the Spirit is but a foretaste of the glory that will be revealed to us.  It is the foretaste that prompts us to pray, Our Father in heaven, may your name be honored, may your kingdom come, may your will be done on earth as it is in heaven [Table].24

But if we hope for what we do not see, Paul concluded, we eagerly wait for it with endurance (ὑπομονῆς, a form of ὑπομονή).25

 

Addendum: October 11, 2024
Tables comparing Matthew 16:20; Romans 8:20 and 8:24 in the NET and KJV follow.

Matthew 16:20 (NET)

Matthew 16:20 (KJV)
Then he instructed his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Christ. Then charged he his disciples that they should tell no man that he was Jesus the Christ.

Matthew 16:20 (NET Parallel Greek)

Matthew 16:20 (Stephanus Textus Receptus)

Matthew 16:20 (Byzantine Majority Text)
τότε |διεστείλατο| τοῖς μαθηταῖς ἵνα μηδενὶ εἴπωσιν ὅτι αὐτός ἐστιν ὁ χριστός τοτε διεστειλατο τοις μαθηταις αυτου ινα μηδενι ειπωσιν οτι αυτος εστιν ιησους ο χριστος τοτε διεστειλατο τοις μαθηταις αυτου ινα μηδενι ειπωσιν οτι αυτος εστιν ιησους ο χριστος

Romans 8:20 (NET)

Romans 8:20 (KJV)
For the creation was subjected to futility—not willingly but because of God who subjected it—in hope For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope,

Romans 8:20 (NET Parallel Greek)

Romans 8:20 (Stephanus Textus Receptus)

Romans 8:20 (Byzantine Majority Text)
τῇ γὰρ ματαιότητι ἡ κτίσις ὑπετάγη, οὐχ ἑκοῦσα ἀλλὰ διὰ τὸν ὑποτάξαντα, ἐφ᾿ ἑλπίδι τη γαρ ματαιοτητι η κτισις υπεταγη ουχ εκουσα αλλα δια τον υποταξαντα επ ελπιδι τη γαρ ματαιοτητι η κτισις υπεταγη ουχ εκουσα αλλα δια τον υποταξαντα επ ελπιδι

Romans 8:24 (NET)

Romans 8:24 (KJV)
For in hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope, because who hopes for what he sees? For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for?

Romans 8:24 (NET Parallel Greek)

Romans 8:24 (Stephanus Textus Receptus)

Romans 8:24 (Byzantine Majority Text)
τῇ γὰρ ἐλπίδι ἐσώθημεν· ἐλπὶς δὲ βλεπομένη οὐκ ἔστιν ἐλπίς· ὃ γὰρ βλέπει τίς ἐλπίζει τη γαρ ελπιδι εσωθημεν ελπις δε βλεπομενη ουκ εστιν ελπις ο γαρ βλεπει τις τι και ελπιζει τη γαρ ελπιδι εσωθημεν ελπις δε βλεπομενη ουκ εστιν ελπις ο γαρ βλεπει τις τι και ελπιζει

1 Romans 8:15 (NET)

2 Genesis 3:10 (NET) Table

4 Hebrews 4:13 (NET)

5 Romans 8:16, 17 (NET)

6 Romans 6:4 (NET)

10 Matthew 16:21 (NET)

11 Matthew 16:22 (NET)

12 Mark 8:32 (NET)

13 Matthew 16:23, 24 (NET)

14 Romans 6:5 (NET)

15 Galatians 5:17 (NET) Table

16 Luke 22:42b (NET) Table

17 Romans 8:18 (NET)

19 The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 had the preposition ἐφ᾿ here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had another form of ἐπί: επ.

20 The Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had τι και (KJV: why…yet) preceding hopes (KJV: hope). The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 did not.

21 Romans 8:22-24 (NET)

22 Romans 7:25b (NKJV) Table

23 Galatians 5:17 (NET) Table

24 Matthew 6:9, 10 (NET)

25 Romans 8:25 (NET)

Romans, Part 25

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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

1 Romans 6:1 (NET) Table

2 Romans 5:20 (NET)

3 Romans 6:2 (NET)

4 Romans 6:3 (NET)

5 Romans 6:4 (NET)

6 Romans 6:6, 7 (NET)

8 Romans 6:9, 10 (NET)

9 The Stephanus Textus Receptus, Byzantine Majority Text and NA28 had the verb εἶναι (KJV: to be) here. The NET parallel Greek text did not.

10 Romans 6:11 (NET) The Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had τω κυριω ημων (KJV: our Lord) here. The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 did not.

12 Romans 3:22 (NET) Table

13 Romans 1:17 (NET)

Is Sin Less Than Sin? Part 4

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To approach the issue of whether such πορνεία as is not so much as named among the Gentiles1 is of greater consequence than the παραπτώματι (a form of παράπτωμα) addressed in Galatians 6:1 I want to consider Romans 7.  But first I want to remind myself of that most forgotten part of the Gospel, the active ingredient, if you will, of the Gospel as a remedy for sin (Romans 6:3-8 NET).

Or do you not know that as many as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?  Therefore we 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 we too may live a new life.   For if we have become united with him in the likeness of his death, we will certainly also be united in the likeness of his resurrection.  We know that our old man was crucified with him so that the body of sin (ἁμαρτίας, a form of ἁμαρτία) would no longer dominate (καταργηθῇ, a form of καταργέω) us, so that we would no longer be enslaved (δουλεύειν, a form of δουλεύω) to sin (ἁμαρτίᾳ).  (For someone who has died has been freed [δεδικαίωται, a form of δικαιόω] from sin [ἁμαρτίας, another form of ἁμαρτία].)  Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him.

Bearing in mind then that this death is one of the gifts of righteousness contained in the Gospel, I want to turn to chapter 7 where Paul contrasted those who through faith in Jesus Christ have become united with him in the likeness of his death to the person whose lord is the law (Romans 7:1 NET):

Or do you not know, brothers and sisters (for I am speaking to those who know the law), that the law is lord over a person as long as he lives?

The word translated lord above is κυριεύει (a form of κυριεύω), to rule in Greek.  “The kings of the Gentiles lord (κυριεύουσιν, another form of κυριεύω) it over them,” Jesus told his disciples (Luke 22:25 NET).  In his letter to the Romans Paul continued with the following metaphor (Romans 7:2-4 NET):

For a married woman is bound by law to her husband as long as he lives, but if her husband dies, she is released from the law 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, and if she is joined to another man, she is not an adulteress.  So, my brothers and sisters, you also died to the law 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 to God.

This can seem like a complex mixed metaphor, but I think it’s actually simpler than it first appears.  If I start again with verse 1: the law is lord over a person as long as he lives.  The Greek word translated person is ἀνθρώπου (a form of ἄνθρωπος), humankind.  The metaphor involves ἄνθρωπος as God created us, male and female, ἀνήρ and γυνὴ.  The meaning of the metaphor is that the husband (ἀνήρ) represents the law and the wife (γυνή) represents all humanity (ἄνθρωπος).  In verse 2 then the married woman (ὕπανδρος γυνὴ) is bound by law to her husband as long as he lives like the law is lord over a person (ἀνθρώπου, a form of ἄνθρωπος) as long as he lives.  The word translated married (ὕπανδρος) is a compound of two words: ὑπό meaning under and ἀνδρός (a form of ἀνήρ), man, husband.  So I can see the metaphorical relationship between the wife under a man, ὕπανδρος γυνὴ,and the original state of all humankind (ἄνθρωπος), under law (ὑπό νόμος).2

The sexual overtones are real here and shouldn’t be ignored.  For instance, the word translated joined in Romans 7:3 is a euphemistic usage of γενέσθαι (a form of γίνομαι): If she be taken (made, done) by another man while her husband is still alive…  The same One who inspired Paul to write this metaphor created the hormonal and neuronal responses that make me feel this husband-wife relationship.  He made marriage to communicate something to me about my relationship to Him.  I don’t want to miss this understanding just because it makes me feel a little gay.  I want to know Him, for this is eternal life.3

The second part of verse 2 is where the metaphor seems to become confused: but if her husband dies, she is released from the law of the marriage (literally: τοῦ νόμου τοῦ ἀνδρός, the law of her man).  In verse 1 the law is lord over a person as long as he lives, and in verse 4a it was the believer who died not the husband/law.  The solution I think is that in everyday life a woman who dies is obviously released from the law of the marriage but she is not free to be taken (made, done) by another.  That only happens in everyday life if her husband dies.  And to be made free to be taken (made, done) by another was the point of the metaphor.

Since those who believe in Jesus Christ have become united with him in the likeness of his death and in the likeness of his resurrection4 they can both die to the law through the body of Christ and are made free to be taken (made, done) by another, to the one who was raised from the dead, to bear fruit to God.5  They are no longer under law, ὑπό νόμος, but under Christ, ὑπό Χριστός.

The ladies have the advantage when it comes to understanding what it means to be ὑπό Χριστός without feeling gay.  But I—who have known the joy and wonder of a wife who even briefly was willingly, happily, contentedly, eagerly and excitedly ὕπανδρος—have the advantage of understanding how discouraging and distressing it must be to the Lord Jesus when I come to Him with rules and regulations rather than willingly, happily, contentedly, eagerly and excitedly.  As I began to grasp the meaning of the metaphor in Romans 7 all my searching the Scripture for rules to obey seemed like a young wife, eager to start her family, studying a sex manual.  Her husband calls out amorously.  “Not now,” she says, “I have to figure out how to bear fruit!”

As I began to add Paul’s understanding in Galatians to this metaphor in Romans 7 I began to see any turning back to the law on my part, any attempt to justify myself by law, or make myself righteous by my efforts to keep laws, like this:  A young wife is eager to start her family.  Her husband calls out amorously, but all he hears is the slamming of the door behind her as she hurries off to hook-up with her ex.  Paul called it fallen away from grace (Galatians 5:4 NET Table).

You who are trying to be declared righteous by the law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace!

Here I find the meaning of adultery, even of πορνεία, why it is unlawful, why we were made to experience it the way we do.  I can grasp now why it would be as distasteful to God for me to simply walk away from the law—apart from the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ shared as my own—as it would be for a wife to simply walk away from her husband to be taken (made, done) by another.  And it was in the face of this super πορνεία, if you will, against the Lord Jesus Himself that Paul wrote: if a person is discovered in some sin, you who are spiritual restore such a person in a spirit of gentleness.6  In my mind that trumps such πορνεία as is not so much as named among the Gentiles7 and makes Paul’s earlier response to one man’s sin seem disproportionate by comparison.