‘Thanks be to God’
[Romans 6:15-18]
Let us review Romans 6:12-14 again [Title: The result of resurrection with Christ]. Just as Jesus Christ died to sin once for all and lives for God forever (v. 10), so we also consider ourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.
First, we must live as dead to sin.
We must not allow sin to have dominion over our bodies (v. 12). We must not obey the lusts of the body (v. 12). Here, it was said at the Wednesday prayer meeting last week that the word “lust” was translated into eight Greek words, but in fact, it was translated into more than ten. Among those translations, it was also translated as ‘desire’ for good works that are not sins. Look at Philippians 1:23 – “But I am hard-pressed from both directions, having the desire to depart and be with Christ, for that is very much better.” Here, the Korean translation of the word to “be with Christ” is translated as follows: “The desire to be with Christ.” We must not yield our members to sin as instruments of unrighteousness (Romans 6:13).
Second, we must live as living beings toward God.
We must live as those who have been resurrected with Christ (v. 13). We must present ourselves to God (v. 13). We are to present our body members as instruments of righteousness to God (v. 13).
Today, I would like to receive the word of God under the title of “Thanks be to God” focusing on Romans 6:15-18. Look at Romans 6:17-18: “But thanks be to God that though you were slaves of sin, you became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching to which you were committed, and having been freed from sin, you became slaves of righteousness.” The word “though” here in Romans 6:17 means that we were originally slaves to sin (v. 17), but God has made us slaves to righteousness through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ on the cross (v. 18). Therefore we should give thanks to God (v. 17). Also, here in Romans 6:17, the word “you” appears twice. In Romans 6:1–23, the word “we” (usually in the first half) occurs 11 times and the word “you” (usually in the second half) occurs 21 times, and the words “we” and “you” have the same meaning. It means “we”/“you” who were baptized, buried, and resurrected with Jesus Christ (v. 4). Here, we already thought of “baptism” in four ways: (1) Those who were baptized with the Holy Spirit and then baptized with water, (2) Those who were baptized with water and then baptized with the Holy Spirit, (3) Those who received only the baptism of the Holy Spirit, and (4) Those who have only been baptized with water. “We” and “you” only apply from (1) to (3). Those who have only been baptized with water are not included in “we” and “you”. In other words, “we” and “you” are (1) those who were baptized with the Holy Spirit and then water baptized, (2) those who were baptized with water and then baptized with the Holy Spirit, and (3) those who received only the baptism of the Holy Spirit, (4)not the only ones who have been baptized with water. In the church, there are many people who only receive water baptism and serve as office bearers, but later are baptized with the Holy Spirit. However, there are some people who have not been baptized with the Holy Spirit and have only been baptized with water. If you are, then you must be baptized with the Holy Spirit. You must long for the baptism of the Holy Spirit and ask God. Baptism of the Holy Spirit refers to born again/regeneration. Being a child of God by accepting Jesus Christ is the result of baptism of the Holy Spirit. Therefore we should give thanks to God (v. 17). The reason is because we were originally slaves to sin [we were originally spiritually dead. We were born in death, and then when we died physically, we had to die forever (the second death)], but now God has made us servants of righteousness (vv. 17-18).
In the Bible, there are people who should give thanks but do not give thanks. For example, in Luke 17:11-19, when Jesus was going to Jerusalem, he entered a certain village and met 10 leprous men (Lk. 17:11-12). Then the leprous men cried out to Jesus, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us” (v. 13). When Jesus saw them, He said, “Go and show yourselves to the priests” and they were cleansed as they went (v. 14). But among the ten leprous men who were cleansed, only one Samaritan, returned, glorifying God with a loud voice, and fell at Jesus' feet and gave thanks when he saw that he was healed (vv. 15-16). Another example is in Acts 3:1-10, when the Apostles Peter and John were going up to the temple, a lame man from birth saw Peter and John in front of the temple gate and begged (Acts 3:1-3). Then Peter said, “Silver and gold I do not have, but what I have I give to you, in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, get up and walk” (v. 6). And Peter took the lame man's right hand and raised him up, and his feet and ankles immediately gained strength, and he jumped and walked (vv. 7-8). And as he went into the temple with Peter and John, he walked and ran, praising God (v. 8). We should be thankful and rejoice in God like the Samaritan who was the leper who fell at Jesus' feet and thanked him, and the lame who was healed. This is because we were originally slaves of sin, but now we are slaves of righteousness. Therefore, we should start our day with thanksgiving, live the whole day with thanksgiving, and even after the day ends with thanksgiving, we should give thanks to God in our dreams. If this is not heavenly life, what can it be?
In Romans 6:17, the Bible says, “that form of teaching to which you were committed” and the word “teaching” refers to the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ on the cross. And “form” refers to the pattern of God’s word, the gospel. We must enter into this gospel and be evangelized. Our thoughts must be the gospel of Jesus Christ, and our actions must bring out the fragrance of the gospel by the power of that gospel. We can't do it in our own strength, but the Holy Spirit does it. The Holy Spirit gives us strong faith so that we can give thanks to God and pleases Him. Also, in Romans 6:17, “you became obedient from the heart” means to obey the word of God, the gospel of Jesus Christ, with a pure (innocent) heart (not formally). As an example, we can take the Thessalonian church members. In the midst of many afflictions, they received the word with the joy of the Holy Spirit and obeyed it, so they became imitators of the Apostle Paul and the Lord (1 Thess. 1:6). And they set an example for all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia (v. 7). Obedience is the fruit of faith. If we have faith, we obey. Why can't we live a life of obedience? The reason is because our faith is weak.
The Bible Romans 6:18 says that we have been freed from sin. Originally, sin reigned in our lives. Sin has taken us captive and has us stuck. But now we are set free from sin through Jesus Christ. Therefore, we can now fight against sin and overcome it. The devil runs away. We are not sinners (1 Jn. 3:6, 9). We no longer sin intentionally (presumptuous sins), if we don't sin habitually (habitual sins), and we no longer sin deliberately and conspiringly (deliberate sins). But we are committing other sins. A biblical example is the Apostle Peter. When Jesus called, the Apostle Peter abandoned everything and followed Jesus. He followed Jesus for three years, but he sinned. In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus’ soul was deeply grieved to the point of death. So before He prayed, He told his disciples, “Remain here and keep watch.” But when He returned from prayer, the disciples were sleeping (Mk. 14:32-37). Seeing this, Jesus said to Peter, “… Keep watching and praying that you may not come into temptation; the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak” (vv. 37-38). The spirit was willing, but the flesh was weak, and in the end, he sinned. This is not a presumptuous sin, a habitual sin, or a deliberate sin, but a sin that falls into temptation because of weakness. The Apostle Peter committed the sin of denying Jesus three times even when Jesus was arrested (Mt. 26:70, 72, 74). But Peter remembered Jesus' words that before the rooster crows, he would deny Jesus three times, so he went outside and wept bitterly and repented (v. 75). Also, in Antioch, the Apostle Peter committed what was reproached by the Apostle Paul (Gal. 2:11). While he was eating with Gentiles, he saw some Jews sent by the Apostle James from Jerusalem coming in. Then the other Jews went out pretending not to eat, and even Barnabas was tempted by their hypocrisy (v. 13). Like the Apostle Peter, when we sin in our hearts, but we are weak in flesh, we must hold onto the words of 1 John 1:9 and confess our sins and repent: “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” We must diligently repent.
In Romans 6:18, the Bible says that we are “slave of righteousness”. Jesus Christ is the servant of righteousness: “the righteous servant” (Isa.53:11), “the righteous branch” (Jer. 23:5), “the sun of righteousness” (Mal. 4:2). We have become servants of Jesus Christ. There were many servants in the time of Roman/Paul. At that time, servant was a slave. And slaves had no freedom/human rights. He was just the master's tool. A slave became a slave because he lost the war, he became a slave because of debt, and he became a slave from birth. In a word, he was forced to become a slave. But because we have been set free from sin through Jesus Christ, we are willing to become servants of Jesus Christ.
In this difficult time in many ways due to the coronavirus, we need to thank God. This is because we were originally slaves of sin, but we have been freed from sin through Jesus Christ and are now slaves of righteousness. Therefore, we should enjoy true freedom, joy, and thanksgiving in Christ in all circumstances. When we give thanks to God, the problem will be resolved.