THE FREEDOM THAT IS EXPERIENCED IN DEATH
Rom. 6:7
Morning Meditation 10/12/14
"For he that is dead is freed from sin."
Adam Clarke's Commentary:
Verse 7. "He that is dead is freed from sin." The word freed translates "dedikaiwtai," and means, "literally, is justified from sin; or, is freed or delivered from it. Does not this simply mean, that the man who has received Christ Jesus by faith, and has been, through believing, made a partaker of the Holy Spirit, has had his old man, all his evil propensities destroyed; so that he is not only justified freely from all sin, but wholly sanctified unto God? The context shows that this is the meaning. Every instance of violence is done to the whole scope and design of the apostle, by the opinion, that "this text is a proof that believers are not fully saved from sin in this life, because only he that is dead is freed from sin." Then death is his justifier and deliverer! Base and abominable insinuation, highly derogatory to the glory of Christ."
Barnes comment on these verses is (Verses 8-11). "This passage is a confirmation and illustration of what the apostle had said before, Rom. 6:5-7. The argument is, that as Christ was once dead but now lives to God, and will no more die, so we, being dead to sin, but living unto God, should not obey sin, but should live only to God."
John Gills comment on Ver. 7: "For he that is dead, is freed from sin. This is not to be understood of a natural or a corporeal death; for this is the effect of sin, and is inflicted by way of punishment for it, on Christless persons; so far is it from being an atonement for sin, as the Jews {t} fancy; besides, there are many persons, who as they die in their sins, they will rise in them; though a natural death is alluded to, when persons are free from those laws and obligations to service and duty they are under whilst living: but here it is to be understood of a spiritual or mystical death, and of persons who are dead to the law, by the body of Christ; dead to sin by the sacrifice and grace of Christ; who are baptized into the death of Christ, and in imitation of him: such are "freed from sin"; not from the being of it; nor from the burden of it; nor from a continual war with it; nor from slips and falls into it; no, not even freed from it, in the most solemn services and acts of religion; but they are freed from the dominion of it, from servitude to it, and also from the guilt of it, and from obligation to punishment on account of it: they are, as it is in the Greek text, and as the Vulgate Latin and Arabic versions read, "justified from sin".
If you have read chapter 6 of Romans, you know that it is not an easy one to understand. If you have checked the commentaries on this chapter, you see quickly that they have a difficult time understanding and being able to explain it.
But the fact is that Jesus death on the Cross counts for our death. And as Jesus death on the cross is substitutionary for us, every thing that death meant to Him also means to us. He died and was raised never to die again. And Spiritually we were co-crucified with Him and we were raised with Him never to die again. We have died in our Substitute to the complete satisfaction of our Father in heaven. This death that was the death for the penalty of sin, satisfied God for the sins of the world. And the believer in Christ is viewed by God has having died in his Substitute in complete satisfaction to the Father in heaven. We died in Christ never to die again and we were raised in Christ never to die again.
Now let's follow the following outline. The freedom that we experience in His death is,
THE FREEDOM FROM DEATH
Paul says in Romans 6:6, "Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin."
The old man is the life we have in Adam. It is called "our old man" in this verse and the old man "is crucified with him." Paul gives as a reason, "that the body of sin might be destroyed." The word "destroyed" translates "katargeo" and means "to render idle, unemployed, inactivate, inoperative." It is not eradicated. It is still there but not in control. I know sometimes we Christians feel the power of that old sin nature so strongly that we feel that it is not destroyed. But if the Bible says it is destroyed, you can count on it being destroyed. It is terminally crippled so far as being able to control our lives. We can say no to it. This is something that we couldn't do before we experienced our death with Christ. It took death to disarm the flesh or the old man. It is still no easy task to go up against the old man, called the "flesh" in other places. The struggle is described in Galatians 5:17, "For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would."
Our death with Christ on the cross frees us from any future death that would separate us from God. This does not apply to the body. The body of the Christian will die just like all must die in this fashion unless it is prevented by the rapture of the saints described in 1 Thess. 4:13-18.
A verse that helps me to understand this death of the Christian is John 5:24, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life."
The first thing that is described in this verse is the condition to salvation. It is the words "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life . . ."
1. Salvation begins by first hearing the Word of God. 1 Peter 1:23, "Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever."
2. Then faith in what one hears is necessary: "and believeth on Him that sent me."
3. Then Jesus says that the person who hears the Word and "believes on Him that sent me" hath everlasting life. The word "hath" means, "to have (hold) in the hand, in the sense of wearing, to have (hold) possession of the mind (refers to alarm, agitating emotions, etc.), to hold fast." It is a present tense verb which means that he continues to have everlasting life. Everlasting life is experienced now in this life by the Christian and that life will never die. When the body dies it does not affect the spiritual life that we have as a present tense truth in Christ. That life is not subject to death because it has already been taken care of by Jesus in His death and resurrection.
THE FREEDOM TO SERVE
Our resurrection with Christ sets us free from death to serve Him, empowered by the new life that we have in Him. The words "is passed from death unto life" translates "metabaino" and means, "to pass over from one place to another." It is a perfect tense verb. The perfect tense is completed action in the past, that completed action, having present results, i.e., that completed action refers to salvation experienced in time, that salvation experienced in time, remains true in the present.
Spiritual death is a condition that exists in the unsaved man that gives the sinful nature inherited from Adam an uninhibited area to operate. Man cannot control this area of his life. Any time he tries, the flesh wins out. Once he is raised from spiritual death and given life in Christ he has the power to say no to what he ought to say no to and yes to what he ought to say yes to.
THE FREEDOM TO ENJOY ASSURANCE
There is freedom in Christ. There is freedom from condemnation. We mentioned that in John 5:24.
Romans 6:11, "Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord." Here God tells us that we can reckon (count it to be true) ourselves to be dead indeed unto sin. That is ground for assurance. There is nothing more thrilling to a Christian than to say with the authority of the Scriptures to back him up, "I am dead to sin, and I am alive to God through Jesus Christ my Lord."
What He is I am and where He is I am. We are told in Ephesians 2 that we are seated together in heavenly places in Christ. We are already there. We can be in two places at the same time.
Our assurance is not based on a positive attitude. It is based on faith in what Christ did for us on the cross and what He is doing for us now on the throne of intercession.
THE FREEDOM TO ENTER THE HOLIEST
Hebrews 10:19, "Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus," We have the privilege and the right to enter the holiest into heaven itself by the blood of Jesus. This is something that should actually overwhelm the believer in Christ.
The priests served daily in the holy place in Old Testament days. They were not allowed to enter the holiest except one time a year on the day of atonement. But since Jesus came He set us free by His death and resurrection to enter the holiest in heaven as often as we want to. Every time we pray, we go into the holiest, and we are told to do it with boldness.
This is a freedom that every Christian enjoys. Hebrews 4:15-16, "For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need."
There are truths taught in these verses that should thrill every believer. Jesus is touched with the feeling of our infirmities. The word "feeling" means "to be affected with the same feeling as another, to sympathize with." I have often defined sympathy as "When your pain is in my heart." When you go into the holiest to pray about your infirmities, we are told that Jesus is touched with the feeling of our infirmities. Next we are told that when we go into the holiest that we have come to a throne of grace. Have you ever gotten over the need of grace? I haven't. I need grace and mercy all the time. I do not enter the throne room with the arrogance of a self satisfied fool. I know that God has found a way to invite me in so that His holiness does not destroy me. Thank God for mercy and grace.
May God richly bless you with the freedom that you have in Christ, and may He continue to extend His mercy and grace to all of us who have put our faith in Christ as our Lord and Saviour.
In Christ
Bro. White
