Romans 6:18,19 - Having been set free from sin

6:18

The gospel is about setting us free from sin, and become “slaves” of righteousness. I have put slaves in quotation marks here because of what Paul says in the next verse. The error being dealt with here is the notion that sin is somehow desirable. Now in the short term sin can seem to be desirable either because of the pleasure it offers, or the gain (financial or status) it may seem to give, or because it offers a way out of a fix. However, on any rational assessment sin is not desirable, for many reasons. Three of these reasons are:

• It makes us subject to judgement

• It enslaves us, this is the point that Paul is focusing on in these verses. It dominates our lives.

• It is harmful to others and to society as a whole.

6:19

“I am speaking in human terms”. Paul is using the slave analogy to help the people understand. With regard to being enslaved to sin it is a very good analogy, we do become slaves to sin. However, in regard to “slaves to righteousness” it is a very loose analogy. Our being slaves of righteousness is accurate in that give our allegiance to righteousness (or, rather to God, and therefore to righteousness), but God is a very good master! And, of course, He is much more than a master, He is also our Father. Paul then goes on to draw a distinction between the effects of being slaves to sin and to righteousness. One leads to lawlessness, the other to sanctification.

Leviticus 13:47-59 - Mildew

13:47-59

Attention now turns to moulds. While moulds are quite different from skin diseases, the pattern of the treatment here is very similar. There is a distinction between clean and unclean. There is an ordered method of dealing with outbreaks, with an unhurried approach to determining whether or not a particular case is unclean. The grounds for determining whether something is clean or unclean do seem rather opaque, though how pervasive something is seems to be a key criteria.

But let’s be honest, this doesn’t make a lot of sense to us, and  some aspects are downright abhorrent, such as the instructions in 13:45,46 where someone who is unclean is cast outside the camp. So what are we to make of all this? The first thing to note is that Jesus did not reject anyone on the grounds of their uncleanness, nor was that the teaching of the New Testament. I don’t imagine to give a complete answer, but will venture a couple of comments which may or may not be helpful. The first is that the Law deals with all aspects of life, including mildew! Likewise the gospel is a whole life gospel, encompassing absolutely everything. But what about the seemingly heartless aspects, such as casting out the “unclean” when it was through no fault of their own? The Law is presenting a picture of a perfect society. There is perfection in that everyone obeys God completely, and there is perfection in that everyone is perfect in every way. There is nothing “unclean” , nothing that has been rendered imperfect by sin, including the general effects of the fall, not just the direct result of an individual's sin. Now this produces the heartless aspects. But the Law was never intended as the means of salvation. It points to how things should be, but cannot get a sinful people and a sinful world there. The gospel deals with our sin, and when its work is brought to completion there will be no “unclean” people or things. Everyone and everything will be perfect. There will be no more dying, mourning, crying or pain , for the old order of things has passed away (Rev 21:4). These are just thought for you to ponder.

Romans 6:15-17 - You are slaves of the one whom you obey

6:15

The chapter started with the question: are we to sin so that grace may abound, now Paul deals with the question shall we sin because we are under grace not law? Once again the answer is an emphatic no! The previous question demonstrated a complete lack of understanding of the gospel, this question demonstrates a complete lack of understanding of the nature and effects of sin. Note that Paul’s response here is not to give a list of do’s and don’ts, but rather to improve our understanding. It is an example of Rom 12:2 where we are urged to be transformed by the renewal of our minds. We need our thinking to be transformed.

6:16

For if we sin we presenting ourselves as slaves to sin. We might think that in sinning we are exercising our freedom, that is the way of the world. We hear this particularly in reference to sexual sin. But the truth is that far from becoming free, we become slaves. So if we offer ourselves to sin we become slaves of sin, and this leads to death. Instead we should offer ourselves as slaves to God, to obedience to God, and this leads to righteousness.

6:17

“But thanks be to God”. This is the glory of the gospel, the prize of the gospel, we have been set free from our slavery to sin. If you want to continue sinning then the gospel is not for you! Once we were slaves to sin, slaves to the sorts of things outlined in the early chapters of Romans. But now we are obedient to the standard of teaching to which we have been committed. There are many so-called Christians who seem to think we can choose what righteousness is. They are deluded. “To which you were committed”. This was not a choice, it is not an option, it is part and parcel of believing the gospel.

Leviticus 13:1-46 - Skin diseases

13:1-46

Having dealt with childbirth, we now move on to skin diseases, to be followed by various moulds. We may well wonder what on earth these passages are doing in the Bible, and I guess most of us have not found these chapters to be of great spiritual benefit. The various skin conditions dealt with here probably do not include leprosy as the way that leprosy develops does not really fit with what we read here.

There are one or two features that we can note. One is that there is a very methodical approach. In all cases the condition is examined, there is then a period of waiting to see what happens. There is no rush to carry out an exorcism! Perhaps we can learn something from that in how we deal with sin or other problems. Sometimes a sin is just a one off, admit it, repent of it, get on with life. At other times it is an indicator of a much more deep rooted problem that might need more serious attention.

A second feature is that there is little concern with healing here, the focus is on being clean or unclean. I, and probably many of you, do not really understand this concept. Maybe God will enlighten me one day!

Romans 6:13,14 - Sin will have no dominion over you

6:13

So we are not to present our members to sin as instruments of unrighteousness. We have a degree of autonomy over our bodies, part of the fruit of the Spirit is self-control. But if we do give our bodies over to sin then we lose control. Instead we present ourselves to God. We have been brought from death to life, we are now free to live for God. So we present ourselves as instruments of righteousness.  In Christ we are free to obey.

6:14

“Sin will not have dominion over you”. This is the freedom that the gospel gives, but we need to choose this freedom. “Since you are not under Law but grace”. Grace does not mean that we can sin with impunity, but that we no longer have to sin. The notion that since we are not under Law therefore we can do what we like is one that the Bible offers no support for. Instead we because we are under grace we choose to live for God.

Leviticus 12:1-8 - Purification after childbirth

12:1-8

We now come to a series of chapters dealing with uncleanness associated with people, starting with childbirth. One important point to note is that uncleanness is not the same as sinfulness. Many of the states that are “unclean” are nothing to do with sin. Even so, it has to be admitted that we find a lot of this stuff hard to understand!

So we start with a woman who has given birth. She was then unclean for seven days, if the child was male she would have to wait thirty three days after the child was circumcised before being purified of her bleeding. If she gave birth to a daughter then the period of uncleanness island the time before purification took place was double. So why uncleanness at all, and why a double period if the child was female? The Bible gives no explanation. I have read a few “explanations”, and none of them are very satisfactory. The lines of explanation which seem to have some relevance are ones relating to the discharges, as the text does relate the matter here to a woman’s monthly period. One thing to note is that God is providing a way of purification, a way of bringing the woman back into full relationship with Him. Sacrifices are described for the poor as well as the not poor. 

The passage finishes with the words “In this way the priest will make atonement for her, and she will be clean” (Lev 12:8). One thing that we do not like to face up to is that the fall has corrupted every aspect of us and of life, even those aspects, such as childbirth, which should be nothing but joy.

Romans 6:11,12 - Consider yourselves dead to sin

6:11

“So you must ...” Our salvation is utterly and completely dependent upon Christ, but that does not mean that we are mere passive recipients. God’s grace leads to our action. This chapter started with Paul dismissing the ludicrous suggestion that since where sin abounds, God’s grace abounds all the more, then we should sin so that there is even more grace. How we should live is to consider ourselves dead to sin, living as if sin has no hold or claim upon us. Once it did have a claim, once we were slaves of sin, but no longer. Instead we are alive to God in Christ Jesus.

6:12

Therefore we are not to allow sin to reign in our mortal bodies. Even considering the possibility that sin is a reasonable thing to do is to demonstrate a complete misunderstanding of the gospel and a complete failure to understand the nature of sin. The previous verses have explained how Jesus died to do away with sin. The nature of sin is that it dominates, it enslaves. So we are not to allow it to reign, for then it will make our bodies obey its passions, not Christ’s commands. We see again that we are active participants, along with Christ. We cannot do anything without Christ, without the Holy Spirit, but that does not mean that we are passive.