Faced with the concept of Christians walking around within the Breath as the means of living a godly life, Christian legalists still try to direct Christians to the written codes of divine Law when it comes to living a godly life day-by-day. They react with horror and they protest loudly when faced with the slightest qualification concerning the written codes of Sinai Covenant Law. So we still need to get to grips with the position and function of the written codes of divine Law.
The Apostle Paul addresses the theme of the Christian’s attitude to the written codes of divine Law most particularly in Romans chapters 6, and 7. Chapter 7 is a difficult chapter and this means that it has been interpreted in a number of ways. So in the next series of posts I will go through this chapter verse by verse so that we can try to follow the Apostle’s logic and reasoning in the light of all that we have seen so far. But first we need the context of what he is saying.
Earlier in his letter to the Roman Christians, Paul has been teaching that everyone, without exception, misses the mark and exists under divine condemnation. He has proposed that divine approval is obtained by being persuaded of and entrusting in the Messiah, such persuasion being evidenced and brought to completion by obedient behaviour. Unlike the Sinai Covenant, this way of divine approval is not restricted to Jews. Then, in chapter 5 v 20a Paul makes an interesting statement. ‘Now law entered close beside in order that the falling away became greater in number’. This seems to state the very opposite of what Christian legalists propose. They turn Christians to divine Law to promote a godly clean life, but Paul says that the effect of law is to increase the amount of falling away and transgression, and earlier he has said that ‘Law is working down settled anger’, (Romans 4 v 15a), not godliness. We will see why this is the case in due course.
Paul says that if self-forfeiture and loss abounds, the divine gift super-abounds, and then he responds to a couple of potential objections. The first objection is this - ‘Shall we remain and persist in self-forfeiture in order that the extended free favour increase?’. His immediate response – ‘May it never be!’, (Romans 6 v 1, 2a). This objection, along with the second one presented in verse 15, defines what Paul is talking about. The general theme is divine approval, and these objections are about divine approval in the Christian’s day-to-day life. The question is framed like this –
If divine favour super-abounds when self-forfeiture increases
Then HOW SHOULD WE LIVE OUR LIVES AS CHRISTIANS?
Should we self-forfeit all the more so that the free gift exceedingly increases?
‘By no means’, says Paul. The super-abounding of God’s free gift of salvation does not give Christians licence to self-forfeit or sin. Paul says that ‘We died away from self-forfeiture and no share - in what way even now will we be alive within it?’ (Romans 6 v 2b). Even now, at this present time, Christians are not summoned to be alive to and positively responsive and active within self-forfeiture.
