I Timothy 1 v 19b – 20 - Professing Christians, Serious wayward behaviour and Excommunication [1]

 Because they were persistently blaspheming, ‘Hymenaeus and Alexander, [were] yielded up to Satan, the adversarial accuser, in order that they may be trained not to blaspheme,’ (I Timothy 1 v 19b – 20). A similar phrase is used in Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians. ‘Delivering to Satan’ conveys the same idea as when Jesus said, “If he is continuing to disregard the fellowship [then] he is to you just like the ‘outsider’ and [like] the one who gathers taxes from the Jews for ‘outsiders’”. In other words he or she is serving the opposition. At Corinth the Christian leaders and assembly were to regard the man who was excommunicated as separated away from them. As cut off from the Kingdom of God, like foreskin is cut off in circumcision, as belonging within the orderly arrangement of the world under the delegated authority of Satan. To exclude someone from the Kingdom of God is by default to place him or her into the dominion of Satan.

Paul says that the purpose or aim in handing Hymenaeus and Alexander over to Satan was that they will be trained, educated and disciplined not to blaspheme. We are not to interpret Paul’s action as a punishment, or as an attempt to make them pay off the debt that their improper speech incurred. Rather it is about training and education towards godliness and cleanliness. And about the maintenance of the cleanliness of the assembly and reverence for God and the gospel. 

In Corinth the aim was to bring the excommunicated man’s physical body and its fleshly raw passions to ruination and loss. He was not being handed over for the destruction of his body, or to die. Rather he was being handed over for the ruination of his flesh. For bringing about the end result of his fleshly passions – the proportionate recompense within himself - so that he might be humbled and brought back to the path of godly cleanliness and be recalled to virtue by means of his suffering, discomfort and loss. The aim was that this man’s mind and body would be shaken, buffeted and afflicted such that he would be brought to his senses regarding his gross sexual behaviour, and then repent of it by making humble acknowledgment of it and turning away from it. 

Paul teaches that this affliction and torment, this ruination of the flesh, is the work of Satan. He presents Satan as the author of bodily diseases such that even of himself, Paul says that ‘in order to keep me from becoming conceited I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me’, (II Corinthians 12 v 7). Similarly, we also have this statement regarding Jesus healing on the Sabbath: ‘a woman was there whom a breath had crippled for eighteen years. She was bent over and could not straighten up at all.... [Jesus said] “Shouldn’t this woman, a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has kept bound for eighteen long years, be set free?”’ (Luke 13 v 11, 16).

The divinely disapproved-of and God-opposing speech, attitudes and behaviours of both the man in Corinth and of Hymenaeus and Alexander, were extremely unacceptable. They were opposed to God and public. Their behaviours were not ‘hidden away out of sight’ but were clearly known about and heard both within the Christian assemblies and by ‘outsiders’. More than this, these three men, who declared that they were Christians, were disregarding the assembly and in many ways serving the purposes of those were opposed to God. For these reasons they had to be removed from the fellowship, they had to be dis-identified with and separated away from the assembly in order to protect the honour of God and the reputation of the fellowship. But the aim was that they might turn around and away from such speech and behaviours.

I Timothy 1 v 18, 19 - Elders and Christians bringing the gospel into disrepute

 In verse 15 Paul stated the good news of the Messiah very succinctly. In verses 3 – 7 he stated that some were missing the mark with regard to this good news or gospel. Some were becoming absorbed in myths, others in endless genealogical details, and others wanted to be experts in Covenant law. Paul explained that divine is law is good but that it is not intended for the righteous. It is for the unrighteous and lawless. Paul agrees that before he became a Christian he was very lawless. He persecuted and oppressed Jews who were embracing Christianity. But he says that he acted in ignorance and despite his behaviour, God’s mercy through His anointed son, Jesus, super-abounded.

I have stayed with Paul’s account to Timothy because Paul now moves on to two Christians who had fallen into behaviour that also openly opposed the gospel and was bringing it into disrepute. How did the Apostle deal with these two Christians? Did he quote Levitical law and the Ten Commandments to them? That is what legalists would do. Let’s see what Paul did in the next three verses. 

‘I place alongside this injunction to you Timothy my child, down from the prophecies going before you, that you serve as a soldier within them, the good military service. 19 possessing entrustment and a good conscience', (I Timothy 1 v 18, 19a). First of all, Paul gives an exhortation to Timothy who is a ruling elder in this assembly. This exhortation was either based either on some earlier assessments by fellow Christians in relation to Timothy, or (more probably) on the basis of some revelations that Paul, or some other believers had received concerning Timothy. Paul tells Timothy to serve as a good soldier of the Messiah within the Ephesian assembly, particularly within their leaders. He encourages Timothy to hold on to faith and a good conscience. This leads Paul to make a statement about some of these leaders and especially about two wayward Christians named Hymenaeus and Alexander. 

Paul says that ‘some have pushed away, causing a shipwreck around entrustment', (I Timothy 1 v 19b). They have pushed away from the basic teaching of the gospel that Paul had announced to the Ephesians, as we have just seen. Hymenaeus and Alexander were two Christians who had a tendency to blaspheme – to defame, revile, to speak evil and irreverently. In other words, they were acting like ‘outsiders’ and bringing disrepute upon the gospel, God and Jesus. All of these people were causing a shipwreck around entrusting and being persuaded of the Messiah. They were creating opposition and resistance to the gospel. Thus Paul begins by exhorting Timothy not to be like them, but rather to ‘serve like a soldier holding on to faith and a good conscience’.

So what did Paul do with regard to Hymenaeus and Alexander? Did he refer them to Covenant law? No, although the principle and aim of Covenant law no doubt informed his decision. Christians are not summoned by God to then behave in a way that causes resistance to the gospel. Such behaviour is not down from the Breath of God. Christians ‘walking within the Breath’ do not regularly and persistently ‘rubbish’ God, Jesus or the gospel. Such speech and behaviour brings the gospel and the assembly into negative criticism and leads ‘outsiders’ into dismissal of the gospel. Paul’s decision was that since they were behaving like ‘outsiders’, opposing the gospel and bringing God and His Messiah into disrepute, he ‘handed them over to Satan’. They were no longer acknowledged as being associated with the Ephesian assembly. Help, support and fellowship was withdrawn from them and they were ‘back in the worldly arrangement’.

I Timothy 1 v 15 - 17 - The good news or gospel

 Paul brings his previous excessive opposition together with God’s free gift ‘Faithful the saying and deserving all acceptance, that Jesus Messiah came into the orderly arrangement to save and make whole self-forfeiters, of whom I am foremost’. (I Timothy 1 v 15). Paul by no means denies his previous behaviour but rather refers to his excessive opposition so as to reinforce the superabundant mercy of God in sending His only begotten son to deliver one who had such strong opposition. 

So what is the end result? ‘But by this means I was shown mercy, in order that within me, the foremost [self-forfeiter], Jesus Messiah might show forth absolutely all patience, as a pattern for those about to be believing on the basis of him, penetrating into perpetual life. 17 And to the King of the ages, incorruptible, invisible, solitary God, honour and praiseworthiness penetrating into the ages of the ages. Amen.' (I Timothy 1 v 16, 17). In effect, Paul says, ‘If God has shown mercy to me, who was such a prominent self-forfeiter opposing the gospel, then this is a pattern for those who are about to entrust Jesus. If I have been delivered from condemnation, then this is an encouragement to those who have not entered into such a degree of opposition, it means that they will also be delivered by entrustment in the Messiah'. Paul then breaks out into praise to God as King of the ages and seasons. 

Galatians 4 v 1 – 3 - Divine law – A rudimentary system for infants

 ‘Now on this basis I am saying however long the time that the heir, existing owner of all, is an infant, he is carried across nothing different than a slave, 2 existing rather under tutors and house managers up until the time appointed beforehand by the father. 3 In this manner we also, were enslaved at the time we existed infants, under the row of rudiments of the ordered system’, (Galatians 4 v 1 - 3).   

Paul has just said that Hebrew Christians, like Gentile Christians, exist as Abraham’s seed (plural), heirs down from God’s announced promise. Having introduced the concept of heirs of the divine inheritance, he now begins to expand on this theme. 

He presents the illustration of a single heir who is still not yet of sufficient age to take full control of what he possesses. Such a young infant heir may own everything, but he is carried across just like a slave. Because he is still a child, he does not make decisions about buying and selling his possessions or about investments. Such decisions are made on his behalf and he has no say in the matter. He is under the authority of trustees – of house managers and governors. He does as he is told until he reaches the age, determined by his father, that he is able to take full control and possession of his inheritance. 

Paul then applies this to Jews, ‘In this manner we also’. Although they were God’s chosen ethnic group, Jews nevertheless existed as infants before the Messiah came. They were like children enslaved to the rudimentary, first principles of the ordered system.  The ‘ordered system’ is that of the Sinai Covenant with its written codes of law, as he says later, ‘scrupulously observing days, months, seasons and years’. 

Many translations read, ‘enslaved under the basic principles of the world’, but the word ‘world’ is not present in the Greek. The word ‘stoicheion’ means ‘rudimentary elements’, ‘orderly arrangement’, or ‘first principles’, and though often associated with the world so as to mean ‘the orderly arrangement of the world’ it does not necessarily refer to ‘the world’. Paul is talking here to Jews. The context of these verses is that Paul is talking to Jewish Christians about the law. So I suggest that the Sinai Covenant and its written codes of laws is the orderly system of rudimentary elements and first principles that Jews were enslaved under, existing like under-age heirs until the time appointed by the Father – the coming of the promised Messiah. This interpretation seems to be confirmed by what Paul says next. 

Galatians 3 v 10 – 12 – Working to observe divine law is not out of entrustment and leads to condemnation

 ‘Because as many as are existing from out of law-works are existing under denouncement, because it has been written, ‘Denounced – all who are not continuing in all the writing within the book of law, constructing them’. 11 But because no one is judicially approved or made right-wise in the presence of God within law, it is clear that the judicially approved will live from out of entrusting persuasion, 12 and law is not from out of faith, on the contrary, they will live within having constructed them’, (Galatians 3 v 10 – 12).

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Paul continues to construct support for his general statement that Christians receive the Breath from out of hearing and entrustment. He has shown that Gentiles or non-Jews are connected to the Jewish patriarch Abraham by means of hearing and entrustment. Paul now contrasts this with seeking to maintain divine approval by putting energy and effort into observing the written codes of Covenant law. He says that everyone who is trying to earn and maintain divine approval by putting energy and effort into observing the written codes of Covenant law, exists under denouncement, under a curse. The curse is that those who are following this path have to obey every single injunction in the book of law. Those who fail to do so, even within just one instance, are not judicially approved. They incur self-forfeiture and loss.  

No one is judicially approved by putting their energy and work into obeying the written codes of Covenant law. So as a result, it is clear, it is evident, that those who are judicially approved will live from out of entrustment and persuasion – faith. It is also clear that divine law is not from out of faith. These are two completely different paths. Those putting their energy and work into obeying the written codes of Covenant law will live IF they have fully and completely constructed all the writing, all the injunctions, in the book of law. ‘Do this and you will live’, ‘they will live within having constructed them’, (verse 12), but ‘no one is judicially approved in the presence of God within law’, (verse 11). People are not able to stand acquitted before God on Judgement Day by means of observing Covenant Law. Nor are Christians able to maintain divine judicial approval day-by-day by means of seeking to keep the written codes of Covenant law such as the Ten Commandments. 

Galatians 3 v 5 – 9 - God’s announced promise and Abraham’s entrustment

 ‘Therefore, the provision of the Breath to you, and the working activity of power within you - from out of law-works or from out of hearing and entrustment, 6 just as Abraham entrusted God and he reasoned it to a logical conclusion into judicial approval and right wise-ness. 7 Therefore perceive and know that those within entrustment, these are Abraham’s sons. 8 But the Scripture foresaw that the Gentiles are being judicially approved and made right wise from out of entrustment, because God declared beforehand to Abraham: All the ethnic races will be within benefit within you. 9 So then, those from out of entrustment are benefiting and spoken well of in company with persuaded Abraham’, (Galatians 3 v 5 – 9).

Paul continues to chastise the Galatian Christians who were turning to observing the written codes of Covenant law, and he begins to logically reason things through to a conclusion – ‘Therefore…’.  He expands on the contrast expressed in verse 2, ‘Did you receive the Breath [Pneuma] from out of law works, or from out of faithful hearing?’ Building on what he has just said about receiving the Breath through hearing and persuasion, and about the Breath and flesh being opposed to one another, he repeats the question. ‘Therefore, the provision of the Breath to you, and the working activity of power within you - from out of law-works or from out of hearing and entrustment’? (verse 5). 

Paul is primarily writing to Hebrew Christians – to Jews who have become Christians – so as part of his question he brings in the example of the Jewish patriarch, Abraham. ‘….from out of law-works or from out of hearing and entrustment, 6 just as Abraham entrusted God and he reasoned it to a logical conclusion into judicial approval and right-wiseness’. Paul leads his readers to an answer. He asks the question but then adds, ‘This is what our revered Jewish patriarch did’. What did Abraham do? He ‘entrusted God and reasoned it to a logical conclusion into judicial approval and right-wiseness’. In other words, Abraham did not follow Covenant law – indeed, there was no Covenant law at that time, the Sinai Covenant had not been given or established. So Abraham listened, entrusted God, and used his mind to reason things through to a logical conclusion. He became correct or right in his wisdom and thinking. Paul is suggesting that this is the process that the Hebrew Christians in Galatia should be following, not expending energy and labour to observe the written codes of divine law.  

 

‘Therefore perceive and know that those within entrustment, these are Abraham’s sons’, (verse 7). Having presented the Hebrew patriarch Abraham as a primary example to Jews of entrustment in God, and knowing that for Jews, being a descendant of Abraham is important, Paul says to these Jewish Christians that Abraham’s sons are those within the sphere of entrustment. Abraham’s true sons are not those by physical descent, but those living within the sphere of entrustment. Paul says a similar thing in his letter to the Romans in chapter 2 v 28, 29. 

Paul then adds further support to his general statement that Christians receive the Breath from out of hearing and entrustment. He says ‘the Scripture foresaw that the Gentiles are being judicially approved from out of entrustment, because God declared beforehand to Abraham: ‘All the ethnic races will be within benefit within you’,’, (verse 8). Paul connects Gentiles – those who are not Jews – to Jews by means of Abraham. Gentiles are not judicially approved by God by means of the energy and work that they invest in keeping Covenant law. Indeed, Covenant law was not given to Gentiles. ‘In the past, He let all ethnic groups go their own way’, (Acts 14 v 16). Gentiles are judicially approved from out of entrustment, from out of faith leading to obedience. God declared this to Abraham when He said ‘All the ethnic races will be within benefit within you’, (verse 8b).

Paul then reaches a sub-conclusion – ‘So then…’. His conclusion is this – ‘those from out of entrustment are benefiting and spoken well of in company with persuaded Abraham’, (verse 9). Those who are benefiting and spoken well of are not those who are turning to Covenant law, but those who are from out of faith.

Galatians 2 v 20 – 21 - No judicial approval for people seeking to keep the law

 ‘I have been crucified together with His Anointed, but I am alive - no longer I [ego] - but His Anointed alive within me. And at this present time, what I am living within flesh, I am living this within faith, the Son of God having loved me and having surrendered himself above and beyond me. 21 I am absolutely not setting aside the free gift of God, because if judicial approval and right wise-ness [is] by means of law, then His Anointed died without cause’, (Galatians 2 v 20 – 21).

In verse 19 Paul made the general statement that –

‘I, [ego], by means of law, died to law, in order that I live to God’

Now Paul begins explain what he means and how this relates to the error of Peter, Barnabas and the other Christian Jews who were turning back to observing Sinai Covenant law. He says, ‘I have been crucified together with His Anointed, but I am alive’. In effect he begins to talk about his ‘old humanity’ and his ‘new humanity’ or new formation. He makes a similar statement in his letter to the Romans, ‘Knowing this, that our old human appearance is crucified together with [Jesus], in order that the body of self-forfeiture and loss is rendered down to being idle and inactive. We are no longer devotedly enslaved to the self-forfeiture and loss’, (Romans 6 v 6). In being brought forth by God, what he was, his natural, earthy fleshly constitution, has been crucified together with the Messiah. His old human appearance was tied and enslaved to energies, impulses and raw passions inherent within the fabric of his flesh. But when God brought him forth his old appearance changed. He died and yet he is alive. He has been brought forth as a new form, a ‘new self’. 

He says that he is no longer ‘I’ [ego]. What does he mean? ‘I’ is the locus of self-governance – ‘I’ choose, ‘I’ desire, ‘I’ think and feel. He means that he is no longer governing and regulating his speech and behaviour based on tied enslavement to the impulses and energies inherent within his fleshly constitution. Rather, by means of the Breath of God, the Messiah is alive within him and he has been set free from enslavement to self-forfeiture, in order to serve the Lord. The Lord is governing his speech and behaviour by means of the Breath within. Paul is no longer dead within fleshly unresponsiveness and insensitivity to God, but roused up from out of the dead towards responsiveness to God and Life in His Messiah by means of the Breath. 

Paul had not physically died, he was still living within his ‘vessel of clay’ or ‘earthly tent’. He was still existing within flesh, but now he was alive to God and living within entrustment and persuasion, a bond-slave of the Messiah, the anointed one of God ‘having loved me and having surrendered himself above and beyond me’. 

So how does this new ‘self’ relate to the behaviour of Peter and the other Hebrew Christians who were turning back to observing the written codes of Covenant law? Paul says, ‘I am absolutely not setting aside the free gift of God’. God brought Paul forth when he was in a helpless state. Paul did not have the ability to deliver himself from divine condemnation. His deliverance, his ‘bringing forth’ and ‘making alive’ is a free gift away from God, and away from His only-begotten Son ‘having loved me and having surrendered himself above and beyond me’ – above and beyond Paul’s ability. Paul says that he is not going to set aside this free gift. He is not going to dismiss it, which is what he would do of he went back to seeking to attain and maintain divine judicial approval by means of investing his labour and energy into observing the injunctions of the written codes of Covenant law.

The bottom line is this – ‘if judicial approval and right wise-ness [is] by means of law, then His Anointed died without cause’. 

If the means of attaining and maintaining divine approval is by means of observing Covenant law, by labouring to put into practice its written codes,

Then, if such a thing were possible, that is what God would have put in place.

But such a task is beyond the ability of anyone. More than this, if the means of deliverance and the maintenance of cleanliness was through obedience to the written codes of Covenant law, it would mean that the Messiah had died without purpose. His death would not have been necessary, it would have been superfluous, because this other method of deliverance and maintenance of cleanliness was already in place.

Galatians 2 v 14 – 16 - The Christian challenge to legalists

 ‘But when I saw them not walking straight towards the truth of the gospel, I said to Peter in front of all, ‘If you, being a Jew first of all, are living like a Gentile and not like a Jew, why are you compelling the Gentiles to live like a Jew? 15 We [are] natural born Jews, and absolutely not from out of ethnic [Gentile] self-forfeiture and no share, 16 but we know that a man is absolutely not judicially approved or made rightwise from out of actions of law, if not by means of persuasion and entrusting Jesus His Anointed. We penetrate towards being faithfully persuaded of Jesus, His Anointed, to the point of obedience, in order that we are judicially approved and made rightwise from out of faith in His Anointed, not by means of law actions, because all flesh will not be judicially approved or made rightwise by means of law works’, (Galatians 2 v 14 – 16). 

Paul was not one to mince his words. He confronted Peter in front of everyone when he saw him acting contrary to the gospel, ‘not walking straight towards the truth of the gospel’. In what way was Peter in error? He was separating himself away from Christians who were Gentiles. But more than this, it would seem that Peter was aligning himself with the assertive, legalistic Jews who had recently arrived, and he was now compelling male Gentile Christians to be circumcised according to divine law. First of all, Paul exposes Peter’s inconsistency. He says, ‘You are first of all a Jew, and under the equality of the gospel you are living like a Gentile and not like a Jew. So why are you now compelling Gentiles to live like a Jew?’ Peter’s approach was a contradiction.

Then Paul, who was himself a Jew, reminds Peter of their heritage and their new position within the Messiah. Unlike Jewish proselytes, Paul and Peter are natural born Jews. They are not from out of the self-forfeiture of Gentiles. Paul and Peter both knew that if an individual is not judicially approved by means of persuasion and entrusting Jesus - God’s Anointed - then they are absolutely not judicially approved from out of his or her labours and efforts to observe the written codes of divine law, such as the requirement to be circumcised.  

Hebrew Christians, like Gentile Christians, penetrate towards being persuaded of Jesus, God’s Anointed, to the point of obedience. This means that Jews, like Gentiles, are judicially approved and made rightwise from out of faith – entrustment to the point of obedience - in His Anointed. Hebrew Christians are not judicially approved or made rightwise by means of law actions, says Paul, because all flesh will not be judicially approved or made rightwise by means of energy and work invested in trying to observe the requirements of the written codes of divine law. Even though Jews possess divine law and have this advantage over Gentiles, God will not judicially approve or make rightwise even one natural born Jewish individual as a result of them labouring and expending their energy in trying to observe the injunctions of divine law. 

Galatians 2 v 12, 13 - Christians and Jewish legalists – The problem stated

 ‘Before some came away from James, he [Peter] was eating with Gentiles. But when they came he shrunk back and separated himself, fearful of those from out of circumcision, 13 and the remainder of Jews also played the part with him, so that even Barnabas was carried away together with their acting the part’, (Galatians 2 v 12, 13). 

Paul states that because of the free gift of the Messiah, when it comes to Christians there is no difference between Jews and Gentiles. Previously, Jews, as God’s chosen ethnic group, separated themselves away from other nations, races and tribes – referred to in Scripture as ‘Gentiles’ or ‘Greeks’. Jews did not eat with Gentiles. But Peter, as a Christian Jew, had embraced what was for him this new equality and so he ate with Gentile Christians. 

But in Antioch, some Jews came away from James, though they were not necessarily authorised by him, (Acts 15 v 24), and they were emphatic in re-emphasising traditional Jewish practices, including Jews not eating with ‘unclean’ Gentile ‘outsiders’. They also emphasised the requirement of Covenant law, that males who were seeking to serve God were to be circumcised. This was originally an instruction to Abraham, patriarch of the Jews, and later this instruction was enshrined in the written codes of divine law. It was the first injunction for Jews and it was also a requirement for Gentile males who sought to embrace the worship and service of YHVH by becoming Jewish proselytes.

So when these rather assertive Jews appeared on the scene, Peter became fearful of them, and he shrunk back and separated himself from eating with Gentiles, contrary to the gospel. Then other Jewish or Hebrew Christians also began to behave in the same way, carried away by this fear and by what their fellow Jews were doing. Even Barnabas was caught up in this. But Paul was not happy with this situation at all.

Principles of living a godly life [77] – More than conquerors

 ‘Who will accuse down the select of God, God the judicially approving and making rightwise? 34 Who is judging against and passing sentence? Jesus the Messiah, the having died, or rather now who having been roused up, is also at the right hand of God, and who is interceding above us. 35 What will put separating space away from the practical benevolent love of the Messiah? Pressure, confinement, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? 36 Because as it has been written, ‘On account of you we are facing death all the day, we are counted as sheep of sacrifice’. 37 But within all this we are more than conquerors by means of Him starting and continuing to love us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angel/messengers, nor beginnings, nor things at hand, nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height, nor profound depth, nor any other original formation will have the power to put separating space away from the love of God within Jesus the Messiah, our Lord’, (Romans 8 v 33 – 39). 

And so we come to the glorious end of chapter 8. The deliverance of Christians is secure and certain away from the free gift of God by means of Jesus the Messiah. So who is going to accuse the select of God? It is God Who is making them judicially approved and rightwise. Who is judging and passing sentence? Jesus the Messiah! Jesus has successfully secured redemption for those whom God has brought forth. Having died, he is now roused up with God’s approval, and interceding as High Priest above us. Who then is going put distance and separation between Christians and the practical, beneficial love of the Messiah? 

Christians at different times and in different places experience extreme hardship, confinement or persecution. Some face very adverse situations. Paul quotes from Psalm 44 v 22, as descriptive of what God’s faithful people may expect from their enemies at any period when the unbeliever’s hatred of God and righteousness is roused and there is nothing to restrain it. The argument seems to be this: God’s faithful people of old have endured all manner of suffering, and yet they were not separated from the love of God, therefore such sufferings cannot separate them now. Outsiders or unbelievers reckon that they have Christians at their command, such that they can cut Christians off, negate them or cancel them when they choose. At the height of their opposition they place little importance on the suppression of the gospel or even the destruction of Christians, if such actions serve their own purpose. 

‘But…’. Paul acknowledges the potential of such opposition. He does not present a glib, sentimental or romanticised view in which Christians are always happy and live a peaceful, safe existence. Nevertheless, he says that ‘within all this we are more than conquerors by means of Him starting and continuing to love us’. Not even the Christian’s physical death will separate them away from the love of God. And thus he plainly and simply lists (verses 38, 39) those opposing circumstances that may seem to have the potential to separate Christians away from the love of God, but which in reality do not have the power to do so. No ‘original formation will have the power to put separating space away from the love of God within Jesus the Messiah, our Lord’, (verse 39). 

Having stated his teaching about divine approval and having considered some potential objections to it, Paul then goes on in chapter 9 to look at the specific situation of Jews as God’s chosen ethnic group, in the light of most of them rejecting Jesus as being their Messiah. But I am going to pause my series on godliness and the relationship of Christians to divine law at the end of chapter 8 for a short while, for a brief summer break. Then I will resume looking at Christians and divine law by moving on to look at Paul’s letter to the Galatians. 

Principles of living a godly life [76] – The divine plan

 ‘And those whom He predetermines, these He also summons, and whom He summons, these He also judicially approves and makes rightwise. Then, whom he judicially approves and makes rightwise, these He also honours and renders praiseworthy. 31 What then will we say to these things? Forasmuch as God is above us, who is down against us? 32 Indeed, He Who is not sparing His own Son, but surrendering him for us all, how will He not also give us all things together with him?’, (Romans 8 v 30 - 32).

As we come to the end of chapter 8, Paul steps back as it were to sum up the process of divine judicial approval and rightwiseness, which has been the main theme of his letter. As in other Scripture writings, the process of deliverance from condemnation is portrayed as being entirely down from God. When individuals are in a hopeless state and unable to deliver themselves, God, knowing some beforehand, predetermines them to be jointly formed to the image of His Son. It is God Who brings them forth – they are born again – and they become a new formation as a result of the atoning sacrifice of God’s only begotten Son, given as a free gift, coupled with the work of the set apart Breath of God and His Messiah. 

The process is this. God knows some beforehand and predetermines these to be conformed to the image of His Son. How does this happen? Those He knows beforehand and predetermines to be conformed to the image of His Son He summons, calls or invites, (by means of the good news of the Messiah and the word of the cross. Those who are summoned are, by means of the Breath, enlightened and such that they are persuaded to the point of entrusting the Messiah), and thus God accounts them judicially approved and rightwise. These He also honours and renders praiseworthy. 

All of this originates from and is brought into effect by God, and this gives Christians assurance and confident expectation. Because divine approval and deliverance from condemnation is not down to their fickle and unreliable energies and labours to be godly. Indeed, they lack ability and strength to deliver themselves because of their fleshly constitution. Nor is divine approval attained or maintained by Christians seeking to work to fully observe the written codes of divine law. Divine law is good and set apart, but it reveals our self-forfeiture and loss, and the impulses of our flesh take hold of this starting point such that our self-forfeiture is seen to increase even more. Christians are not placed under the written codes of law or the Sinai Covenant, but under the free, undeserved gift of God, and the New Covenant of the blood of the Messiah. Deliverance from condemnation, and divine approval, is given to them as a free gift from God. Christians maintain Life – responsiveness to God – by walking around moment-by-moment within their breath [pneuma] which is being moved by the Breath of God [Pneuma] dwelling in their deep inner core and effectively interceding for them. Christians are bond-slaves to their Lord who pays the price necessary to buy them back - the shedding of his own lifeblood as a substitute payment to send away their self-forfeiture.

So what shall we Christians say? Well here is the conclusion – ‘Forasmuch as God is above us, who is down against us? 32 Indeed, He Who is not sparing His own Son, but surrendering him for us all, how will He not also give us all things together with him?’ The deliverance of Christians is secure and certain. Since all this is away from the free gift of God, and since God did not hold back even His only begotten Son, but surrendered him for all of us, then who can be down against us? Who can successfully rob us of our deliverance? More than this, if God has not held back His own Son, then surely He will also give us all things together with him. Christians are adopted sons in God’s household, joint-heirs, joint inheritors with the Messiah. God does not surrender His only begotten Son so as to then hold back from us the benefits that His Son has attained.

Principles of living a godly life [75] – God working all things together for good

 ‘Now we know that God is working all things together penetrating towards good to those having preference for loving God, those being called and invited down from setting forth. 29 Because those whom He knows beforehand, He also predetermines jointly formed to the image of His Son, him penetrating into being firstborn among many brothers’, (Romans 8 v 28, 29). 

Paul has said that the Breath is interceding, helping Christians in their weakness. This intervention is very effective because God knows and perceives the movement of the Breath in Christian’s hearts, because God diligently searches hearts and the Breath is down from God and striking the mark ‘spot on target’. He goes on to say that Christians also ‘know that God is working all things together penetrating towards good to those having preference for loving God’, (verse 28). When it comes to Christians, ‘those being called and invited down from setting forth’, God is not disinterested, nor is He working against their best interests. On the contrary, God is working everything together to contribute and penetrate towards their good. Early manuscripts have this rendering, ‘God works all things with’, or ‘co-operates in all things’. Thus we have, ‘God co-operates for good in all things with those having preference for loving God’. Not every situation and circumstance seems to be good – such as times of illness, suffering, adversity and so on, and at such times many Christians struggle to comprehend God’s purpose. But that is not quite what is being said here. Rather, Paul is saying that ‘even in these difficult situations, God is co-operating in all things towards the Christian’s good’.   

How do Christians know that God is co-operating in all things towards their good? Paul makes another general statement. Christians know this ‘Because those whom He knows beforehand, He also predetermines jointly formed to the image of His Son, him penetrating into being firstborn among many brothers’ (verse 29). Those whom God knows beforehand… The Greek word has been the subject of almost endless disputes with regard to its meaning in this verse. The literal meaning is not in dispute. It means to ‘know beforehand’, to be acquainted with future events. The dispute is whether it means that God knew beforehand that certain individuals would become Christians; or whether it means that God constituted them to be Christians and be saved. This has been a subject of almost endless discussion.

The word used here does not necessarily mean to decree. It does not mean ‘foreordain’, yet it supposes that there is a purpose or plan. Neither does this verse affirm why, how, or on what grounds God foreknew some human beings. It simply states the fact. The verse simply teaches that God knew certain people beforehand; that His eye was fixed on them; that He regarded them as those to be conformed to his Son, to be designated to eternal life. The Syriac renders it in accordance with this interpretation: ‘And from the beginning he knew them…’. Bible commentator Mayer states, ‘It is God’s being aware in His plan, by means of which, before the subjects are destined by Him to salvation, He knows whom He has to destine thereto’.

Knowing certain individuals beforehand, God then ‘also predetermines [them to be] jointly formed to the image of His Son’. God is co-operating in all things towards the Christian’s good because He predetermines that they will be jointly formed, or conformed, or have the same form as, or ‘mirror-like’ resemblance of His Son – Jesus the Messiah. Thus we read elsewhere, ‘And all of us, face having been unveiled, beholding as in a mirror the honour and praiseworthiness of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image…’, (II Corinthians 3 v 18). That is, being transformed into the image of His Son, Jesus. (See also Colossians 3 v 10; I John 3 v 2; Philippians 3 v 21). Part of the reason for this transformation is that Jesus is ‘penetrating into being firstborn among many brothers’, (verse 29). God’s purpose is not that the Messiah stands alone in isolated praiseworthiness and honour, but that he may be surrounded by a numerous brotherhood, fashioned after His likeness, as He is in the likeness of God.

Principles of living a godly life [74] - The Breath working alongside

 ‘But also, in the same way, the Breath [Pneuma] is joining with assertively taking hold of helping our weakness. For we do not know precisely what it is necessary and proportionate to pray for, but the Breath [Pneuma] itself makes intercession with inexpressible groans and sighs. 27 Now the diligent searching of the hearts perceives what the thoughts, purposes and inclinations of the Breath [Pneuma] are, for down from God set apart above, it is striking the mark’, (Romans 8 v 26, 27).   

Paul has said that despite the present suffering, (verse 17, 18), Christians, ‘by means of steadfast endurance’, (verse 25b), eagerly await the end result of their deliverance, namely ‘the full ransom and release of their body’, (verse 23b). But there is more. The Breath of God is joining by taking the initiative and assertively taking hold of helping Christians in their weakness and lack of strength. What does Paul mean when he refers to the Christian’s ‘weakness’? He tells us right away. Christians don’t know ‘precisely what it is necessary and proportionate to pray for’. They don’t know what would really be best for them or what God might be willing to grant them. They are to a great extent still ignorant of the character of God, the reasons for His dealings, the principles of His government, and their own real needs, such that they are sometimes in real, deep perplexity. They are surrounded with trials, exposed to temptations, potentially subject to debilitating illness, and to calamities. Asking for the right things to the right degree and proportion is the difficulty, and it arises in part from the dimness of their vision of heavenly realities in their present state, during which they have to ‘walk by faith, not by sight’. But the Breath is ‘in the middle’ as it were, to intercede. The Breath enters above and beyond to make petitions and make appeals that hit the mark spot on.  

‘The diligent searching of the hearts perceives what the thoughts, purposes and inclinations of the Breath [Pneuma] are’, (verse 27). The ‘diligent searching and examination of hearts’ is an indirect linguistic expression that refers to a particular and unique ability of God. Because neither good angel messengers, nor bad angel messengers, can search into the hearts of human beings. Neither can an individual human being know the heart of another, nor can any individual fully know even his or her own heart - this ‘searching of hearts’ is the prerogative of God. This diligent searching of hearts, of the Christian’s deep inner core, means that God knows ‘what the thoughts, purposes and inclinations of the Breath [Pneuma] are’. The heart constitutes the deep inner core, the ground, of an individual’s thoughts, emotions and intentions and it is where the Breath resides. The Breath is making intercession for the Christian, and God knows and perceives the movement of the Breath, not only because He searches hearts, but also because the Breath is down from God and is striking the mark ‘spot on target’.  

Principles of living a set apart, godly life [58] – Two fundamental principles

 ‘…Under these circumstances, no judicial condemnation within Jesus the Messiah at this present time 2 because the fundamental principle of the Breath, [Pneuma], the Life within Jesus the Messiah, has set you free away from the fundamental principle of self-forfeiture, loss and the death. For the powerless incapable law, within which it is weak and feeble by means of the flesh, God, having sent His Son within resemblance of self-forfeiting flesh, and concerning self-forfeiture and loss, has condemned self-forfeiture and loss within the flesh’, (Romans 8 v 1 - 3).

Paul mentions two opposing fundamental dynamic principles of movement within Christians – 

Life within Jesus the Messiah

And

Self-forfeiture, loss, and the death

The principle, inclination and direction of movement towards self-forfeiture, loss and death is inherent within the fabric of our fleshly constitution and works in opposition to God. As a Christian, ‘I’ closely identify with delight in the honourable, praiseworthy law of God, but this principle within my fleshly constitution leads me to self-forfeiting behaviours that ‘I’ do not intend. 

But Christians are brought forth as part of the free gift of God by means of the Messiah and they possess the set-apart Breath that is moving on the basis of the fundamental principle of Life within the Messiah. The consequence is that ‘the Breath, [Pneuma], has set them free away from the fundamental principle of self-forfeiture, loss and the death’. Christians possess a direction of movement, a current, deep within their inner core that ‘outsiders’ or ‘unbelievers’ do not possess. 

How does this relate to the written codes of Covenant law? ‘For the powerless incapable law, within which it is weak and feeble by means of the flesh, God, having sent His Son within resemblance of self-forfeiting flesh, and concerning self-forfeiture and loss, has condemned self-forfeiture and loss within the flesh’, (Romans 8 v 3). Paul has been looking at the objections of those seeking divine approval by means of seeking to obey the injunctions of divine law since chapter 7 v 1. He has not forgotten that Covenant law has been an aspect of his discussion of divine approval, and he returns to divine law in verse 3, in the light of all that he has been saying, particularly since chapter 7.

 

So where does Paul direct Christians when it comes to perpetual Life with a capital ‘L’ - to sensitivity and responsiveness to God and His Messiah? Where do Christians look to obtain Life-energy that opposes the impetus of self-forfeiture, loss and death inherent in their flesh, in their day-to-day existence? ‘Aha!’ say Christian legalists. ‘We look to divine law! We look to the written codes of Mosaic Law – of Sinai Covenant Law, such as the Ten Commandments - to spur us on towards a clean, godly life.’ But that is not what Paul says here, or anywhere else. Given what he has been saying, Paul initially points Christians to the free gift of by means of Jesus the Messiah.

How is divine approval attained and maintained in daily life? How is self-forfeiture dealt with? Not by turning to try to walk in obedience to the written codes of divine law. Why don’t Christians turn to Covenant law if they agree with delight in divine law that is good, honourable and praiseworthy? Christians don’t turn to divine law because it is weak, feeble, powerless and incapable. The reason for this weakness of the law is the Christian’s earthy, sensuous, fleshly constitution with its inherent principle of self-forfeiture, loss and death that moves in opposition to God. 

Divine approval is attained like this - God loves the world in this way – He sent His only-begotten Son in the likeness of flesh, such that His Messiah condemns self-forfeiture and loss within the flesh. Paul does not direct Christians to divine law because our fleshly constitution makes the law weak and ineffective. Instead, he directs Christians to the good news of the free gift of God, Jesus the Messiah. Why? He will explain in the next verse.  

Principles of living a godly life [55] – No condemnation within Jesus [1]

 ‘Rejoice! The free kindness and favour of God by means of Jesus the Messiah our Lord! So then, indeed I am willingly serving God’s law with the mind, but [my] flesh, [is enslaved to] fundamental principles of self-forfeiture and loss. Under these circumstances, no judicial condemnation within Jesus the Messiah at this present time’, (Romans 7 v 25, 8 v 1).

Paul continues his discussion about judicial approval and deliverance in verse 1 of chapter 8. Very often the start of this verse is translated in to English like this – ‘Therefore there is now no condemnation…’. But there is nothing in the immediately previous verses at the end of chapter 7 to directly suggest that Paul has successfully argued such a conclusion. Chapter 7 actually ends with the strongest assertion of the sin-awaking and sin-detecting power of divine Law and the consequent conflict within the Christian. ‘So then, indeed I am willingly serving God’s law with the mind, but flesh [is enslaved to] fundamental principles of self-forfeiture and loss’, (Romans 7 v 25).

Thus it is better to refer the introduction of chapter 8 to the whole of Paul’s previous logical reasoning. Verse 1 is especially connected with chapters 5 and 6, and the first section of chapter 7, which state, (using various means of imagery), the union of those brought forth by God with the Messiah by means of the set-apart Breath. So far in his letter to the Romans the Apostle has discussed and explained, from many sides, the central theme of salvation, divine approval and its immediate results. These aspects include union with the Messiah, bond-service to God, enlightened liberation of the will, and so on. His last theme has been the place of the written codes of divine Law. With regard to both unbelievers and Christians, divine Law cannot subdue self-forfeiture, but only expose and condemn it. Paul has answered various anticipated objections, partly to vindicate the set-apart cleanliness and praiseworthiness of the Law, partly to expose the magnitude of self-forfeiture, and partly to reinforce the truth that divine approval has to be attained by another way. 

But it is even better to consider the opening words of verse 1 to be the start of a new aspect in the light if all that Paul has been saying. Understanding the Greek word ‘ara’ is the key here. The meaning of the word is more nuanced than the English word ‘therefore’. Thayer states it like this, ‘under these circumstances, something either is so, or becomes so’. It refers to a preceding assertion or fact, (verse 25), or even to something existing only in the mind, and leads to something that follows on as a consequence. With verse 1 we have another example of the later superimposition of chapter and verse divisions on the text potentially getting in the way. Paul is continuing to logically progress from what he has been saying previously. And he has by no means finished talking about divine law, which he will return to in verses 4 and 7 of chapter 8 as part of his continuing discussion about Christians and maintaining divine approval day-by-day.  

I also want to note that the rest of the verse 1 says, [Not walking down from flesh, but down from breath] [pneuma], (Romans 8 v 1b). It is highly probable that these words are to be removed or omitted since it is very likely that copyists inserted them here. We will come across these words a little later, in their correct place, as Paul continues his reasoning and analysis. But when placed here, they intrude and distract from the sequence of Paul’s logical propositions. 

Principles of living a godly life [53] – Christians and deliverance

 ‘I am a wretched, afflicted man! What will rescue and deliver me from out of this, the death-body?’ (Romans 7 v 24).

As Paul has reasoned through and analysed the process that leads him as a Christian to speak and behave in ways that God disapproves of, and the situation seems to be depressing and hopeless. And that is indeed the sub-conclusion that Paul reaches in this verse. Paul refers to his physical body as ‘the death-body’ or as it is in some translations, ‘body of death’. Even now, as a Christian, he does not simply desire to speak and act in a particular way and it then happens without fail. As a Christian he does not merely intend to avoid a certain manner of speech or a particular behaviour and then it simply happens as he chooses. This contrariness is certainly my experience as a Christian and I am sure that it is your experience too. What is causing this problem? It is not divine law itself that is at fault, but his physical, fleshly body - his human constitution inherited from his ancestors. His physical flesh possesses raw passions, desires, impulses, energies and inclinations – in short, an impetus that seeks to work itself out to completion by carrying across to the other side from within so as to be manifest in his speech and behaviour. These energies within our fleshly constitution are working in opposition to God such that they lead us away from life. If we follow these impulses and inclinations, they produce increasing levels of blindness and ignorance with regard to spiritual realities, and a hardness or callousness deep within us with regard to spiritual realities, and this in turn leads to further wayward speech and behaviour. These energies, inherent within the fabric of our flesh, lead us to ignorance, insensitivity and unresponsiveness to God – to withering away, dying away and death – hence Paul calls it our ‘death body’. Paul has outlined this process for both Gentiles and Jews in Romans 1 v 18 – 3 v 20 and thus he says, ‘I am a wretched, afflicted man!’. Even as a Christian, enlightened and illuminated with regard to God, the Messiah and the gospel, and closely identifying with delight in the Law of God down from the man within, he still does not manage to live a life of perfect godliness. This is because the contrary impulses within the fabric of his physical flesh take him captive.

This gives rise to Paul’s rhetorical question – ‘What will rescue and deliver me from out of this, the death body?’  Who is able to leave their body in order to be free from these raw passions and impulses so as to serve God in perfect purity? The answer is self-evident, no one has such ability and power. But that is not quite the question that Paul asks. He is no longer looking to himself and his own ability to observe divine law, because he has shown how weak and lacking in ability he is. Instead he looks outside of himself. In effect he asks, ‘Is there anything ‘out there’ that will rescue me from out of my physical constitution, my death-body?’ Every translation reads, ‘Who will rescue me?’ The Greek word can mean ‘who’, ‘what’, ‘which, or ‘why’ – but the word ‘what’ fits better with the next verse than ‘who’. What can deliver Paul? ‘The free kindness and favour of God’, (verse 25a).

Principles of living a godly life [43] – Human nature and divine law [3]

 ‘For separate and apart from law, self-forfeiture and loss is lifeless, 9 and how much I [ego] was living separate and apart from law. But the injunction having come, the self-forfeiture and loss came up to life, and I [ego] withered away. 10 I discovered the injunction penetrating towards life - this penetrated towards death’, (Romans 7 v 8b - 10).

Imagine getting your first motorcycle or car, and having passed your driving test, you go out to enjoy driving for its own sake. It doesn’t matter where you go – it’s the freedom of movement that you now have and the sheer enjoyment of driving. After a while you find yourself in a small town that you have never been to before and it feels wonderful to have the freedom to explore this new location. But as you are driving, someone points out that you are driving in the wrong direction down a one-way street – you are breaking the law. Whilst you were unaware of breaking a law you were free and enjoying yourself. You had no awareness that you were breaking the law, or of any fines or penalties that you might be incurring, or the potential danger you were in. But then someone pointed out that you were breaking the law – a rule of law ‘came in’. As a result, the incurring of all kinds of fines and penalties ‘sprung to life’ in your mind. That is the kind of initial process that Paul describes in relation to divine law in verses 8b and 9. 

The result of knowing divine law is that our sense of freedom, moral rightness and ability begins to wither away. Our former persuasion of being alive vanishes, because by means of knowing the law we see that we have incurred loss of the divine inheritance and self-forfeited away from God’s favour. Our awareness of loss and self-forfeiture springs to life. 

The result was that Paul discovered something in his personal experience. He discovered that the divine injunction towards life, ‘Do this and you will live’ – the injunction towards sensitivity and responsiveness to God and a share in the divine inheritance – was penetrating towards death. It was penetrating towards guilt and condemnation. By means of knowing the divine injunction he came to know loss and self-forfeiture away from God’s favour. Worse still, he came to see his self-forfeiture of this injunction permeating into more and more aspects of his thoughts and behaviour.

So, as a general principle, ‘the injunction having come, the self-forfeiture and loss came up to life, and I [ego] withered away’. The law comes in and I become more and more aware of my self-forfeiture and loss. The meaning is ‘coming up to life again’ - implying that it was previously dormant but was now roused up into new life. Worse still, ‘I’ withered away. This is placed in contrast to ‘I was living’. The effect of the divine injunction was to bring Paul to an awareness of his ‘withering away and dying off’. The essential idea here is that the Law did not answer the purpose that many Jews would claim for it, to cleanse and to give comfort, but that its influence was to produce aggravated, unpardoned guilt and woe. He now saw himself a dead man, dead in sin, dead in law, under a sentence of death. That he had within himself the impulse and energy leading towards death, and all his hopes of eternal life by investing his energy and work is seeking obedience to the law, died at once. ‘I discovered the injunction penetrating towards life - this penetrated towards death’.

Such is the result of knowing divine law. ‘Do this and you will live’ (Luke 10 v 28), but any failure to ‘do this’ does not originate in the injunction itself, but rather in knowing the injunction and by means of this knowledge becoming aware of the extent of loss and self-forfeiture. Our ‘ancient human constitution [is] being corrupted and ruined down from deceitful passionate desires and yearnings’, (Ephesians 4 v 22) – the raw passions and energies inherent in our fleshly constitution.

Principles of living a godly life [41] – Human nature and divine law [1]

 ‘What then? Will we say ‘The Law of self-forfeiture and loss’? May it not be caused to happen! However, I would absolutely not know self-forfeiture and loss if not by means of Law, for also I would absolutely not know covetousness if the Law had not said, ‘You will not covet’,’ (Romans 7 v 7). 

In verse 5 Paul said that ‘when we existed within the flesh, the passions, the self-forfeiture, actively and effectively worked within our limbs and members through the means of the law, penetrating towards the bringing forth of fruit, the death’. Paul also says elsewhere that ‘law entered close beside in order that the falling away became greater in number’, (Galatians 5 v 20). Law increases the amount of transgressions and the wayward raw passions and energies inherent in the fabric of our fleshly constitution are working in our limbs by means of the law. In other words, divine law is not leading ‘outsiders’ or unbelievers to live a life of set apart cleanliness at all. But when Christians are brought forth by God they are rendered idle with regard to serving God within the sphere of the law.

So Paul immediately anticipates another objection from those who know the law. He frames the objection in terms of a rhetorical question. ‘What then? Will we say ‘the Law of self-forfeiture and loss’?’ Will we say that the Law is at fault? Is Law failing in the purpose of producing cleanliness? Is the Law creating self-forfeiture and loss in us? He answers immediately. ‘May it not be caused to happen!’ 

To illustrate his point he quotes the beginning of the tenth Commandment, ‘You will not covet’, (Exodus 20 v 17; Deuteronomy 5 v 21). The word ‘covet’ means ‘to have focused passion’, ‘to yearn for’, ‘to greatly desire to do or have something’, ‘to long for’, ‘to desire very much’, or ‘to lust after’. Mosaic or Sinai Covenant Law takes an enormous step forward in advance of many other ancient codes, because most of them stopped short at actual action or behaviour. Just a few went on to speech, but few if any laws addressed an individual’s thoughts or passions. But divine law says, ‘You will not covet’, you will not hold on to the thought and passionate desire for something. Coveting proceeds from our heart or deep inner core, (Proverbs 6 v 25), and when it carries across into our behaviour it brings forth self-forfeiture and loss, the thought and desire is brought to completion in the act. 

Paul says ‘in the absence of divine law I would not know that if I covet then I self-forfeit incurring loss. Covenant Law is the means by which I know that I am self-forfeiting. Until the law revealed it, I had no knowledge or consciousness of divine disapproval, self-forfeiture and loss with regard to coveting.’ Without doubt there were those who desired their ‘neighbour’s wife, or his manservant, or his maidservant, but before the giving of Covenant Law this would not be readily perceived as a divinely disapproved-of desire for that which was forbidden. Because no written code existed to reveal that God disapproved of such passionate desire. The Apostle did not know covetousness as something that was disapproved-of by God until he was confronted with the law opposing it. The desire might have existed within him, but he would not have known that God disapproved of it to the point of his self-forfeiture and loss. The written codes of divine law place boundaries on his desires, as well as his speech and behaviour, teaching him what God judicially approves of and what He disapproves of. Divine law teaches where lawful indulgence ends, and where self-forfeiture and loss begins.

It is not Divine Law itself that is missing the mark, nor is it failing. So what is the dynamic process that happens? Paul is about to tell us.

Principles of living a godly life [35] – Christians and divine law [2]

 Why is it the case that Christians are exhorted not to live their lives responding favourably to self-forfeiture if they have been delivered away from divine condemnation by the Messiah? Paul teaches that Christians are ‘planted together with the Messiah so as to come forth the resemblance of His death’, (Romans 6 v 5). That is a deep and slightly obscure concept, but he explains it in the next verse. ‘…knowing this, that our old human appearance is crucified together with [Him], in order that the body of self-forfeiture and loss is rendered down to being idle and inactive. We are no longer devotedly enslaved to the self-forfeiture and loss’, (Romans 6 v 6). Sounds even deeper, so what does he mean? Our ‘old human appearance’, refers to what we all are within our earthy, sensuous human nature and constitution. When God’s brings forth those he has selected, this old form is crucified together with the Messiah. God brings Christians forth as a ‘new formation’ in order that their physical, fleshly body with its inherent tendencies towards self-forfeiture and loss is brought to an end and rendered idle. Their fleshly body cannot and will not enter into the heavenly realm. Paul is saying that Christians are no longer enslaved to self-forfeiture and loss.

He goes on to say, ‘Because he, [Jesus], died, he withered away the self-forfeiture and loss… in this manner you also, logically reason yourselves to indeed be dead and lifeless to self-forfeiture and loss… Nor be standing beside your members as implements of unjust self-forfeiture, but stand them beside God, from out of the dead as it were, alive, your members instruments of the judicial approval of God’, (Romans 6 v 10a, 11a, 13). It is clear that Paul is talking about living the Christian life day-by-day. He concludes his response to the first objection that Christians continue in self-forfeiture because God’s free gift super-abounds, by saying, ‘Because self-forfeiture and loss will not have authority over you, because you are absolutely not under law, but under favour’, (Romans 6 v 14). In the future, self-forfeiture and loss will not rule over Christians. Why? Because at this present time Christians are under God’s freely extended favour and are absolutely not under law. The Greek suggests the paraphrase, ‘You are now not placed under law but under a free gift’, with the idea not just of the Christian’s position or standing, but also of the transferring process. To be ‘under law’ is to be under its authority and requirement of entire obedience, and therefore to be under its curse for the slightest breach. To be ‘under law’ is to be enslaved under the inability of our fleshly constitution to keep it, the helpless slave of self-forfeiture, the law working down settled anger.

Principles of living a set apart, godly life [26] – Divine Law, Priesthood, Citizenship and the Millennium Reign [2]

God has declared that in the future He will fully complete His promises and purposes for the household of Israel. But this will not be based on the old Sinai Covenant and its written Laws because the household of Israel and its delegated leaders and priests of the Levitical priesthood proved to be persistently wayward and rebellious with regard to this Covenant. So God is going to accomplish this ‘with a fresh new Covenant on the basis of household of Judah’, (Hebrews 8 v 9). 

The effective and successful work of Jesus - God’s anointed deliverer - means that Jesus, from the house of Judah, is now high priest, of the order of Melchizedek, in the heavenly realm. When Jesus comes to take up the mantle of King of kings at the advent of the Millennium Reign, this will be a royal priesthood and the time when God introduces this new Covenant with the household of Israel. 

The author of the letter to the Hebrews gives us a brief description of this new Covenant. ‘Because this is the Covenant that I will appoint with the household of Israel after those days, declares the Lord. Putting My laws within their mind and understanding on the basis that I will write them on their hearts, towards the purpose that I will be their God and they will be a people towards me. 11 They will absolutely not each continue teaching their fellow citizens and brothers saying, “Know the Lord”, because all will see and know Me, away from the least of them to the greatest. 12 Because I will be propitious and merciful, I will not recall their unrighteousness, injustice and no-share any more’. 13 In saying ‘new’ He makes the first old, and that becoming old and becoming aged, near disappearance’, (Hebrews 8 v 10 – 13). There it is – the promise of future restoration and reconciliation and God’s faithfulness in bringing to completion His purposes with regard to His chosen ethnic group. 

What is relevant to our present theme concerning divine law are verses 10 and 13. In verse 13 we are told that with the establishment of this new Covenant, the old Sinai Covenant with its written codes is made old, such that it almost completely disappears. But divine Law is not dissolved or abolished. The household of Israel will not enter into lawlessness or anarchy in the Millennium Reign. Rather, the principles of God’s laws will be transferred into the hearts and minds of those of the household of Israel and they will perceive, understand and comprehend them. God will write these laws ‘on their hearts’ – in their deepest inner core at the foundation and emergence of their thoughts, emotions and desires. Once again, this new Covenant exists alongside God’s Law.