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Romans 6:4 – Raised to New Life

Posted on March 3, 2010 by Will

Romans 6:4

Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.

Truth to Learn

Because of Christ’s resurrection we should live differently.

Behind the Words

The words “we were buried with” are from the Greek word sunthaptō, which is made up of sun, meaning “together” and thaptō, meaning “to bury.” In the New Testament this word only appears here and in Colossians 2:12. In both instances it refers to us being buried together with Christ in, or through, baptism.

“Raised” is from egeirō, which literally means “to arouse” or “to cause to rise.” It means to awaken someone from sleep, whether it be restful slumber or death itself.

The word translated “newness” is kainotēs, which is derived from kainos, meaning “new.” Kainotēs refers to a renewal, not simply an experience similar to the past, but a qualitatively different one. Hence, here it refers to a newness of life that has a different quality from the previous life that we had without Christ.

Meaning Explained

For Christians, baptism is a public declaration that a person has accepted Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. It is not part of the salvation process; it happens after salvation. This current verse and those that follow describe a mode of baptism referred to as “immersion.” Though this is the mode of baptism that most closely identifies us with the death and resurrection of Christ, it is not the only form of baptism used by Christians today. For the sake of discussion in these verses, however, we will assume that Paul is talking about baptism by immersion.

Baptism involves the baptizer laying the person being baptized backwards into the water until he or she is completely submerged. Paul says that this person was, “buried with him (Christ) through baptism into death.” The person being baptized is then raised back up and allowed to stand. Paul says, “that just as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.”

What Paul means is that as we were laid back in the water we were identifying ourselves with Christ’s death. We were demonstrating that we died with Christ. When we were raised back up, we were identifying with the resurrection of Christ, entering into a new kind of life, that is, eternal life. And Paul says, since we were raised from the dead, we should now walk in this new kind of life. This new life is to be qualitatively different from our former life. It is not to be characterized by sin because, as he said in verse two, we died to sin.

Application

Let me ask you, my Christian friend, “Does the kind of life you are living now differ significantly from the kind of life you lived before you were saved?” It should!

Are you walking in this new kind of life in a manner that is worthy of Jesus Christ, the One you have identified with?

If you were arrested today for being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict you? I certainly hope so!

In God’s service, for His glory,

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Romans 5:17 – A Reigning Gift

Posted on February 18, 2010 by Will

Romans 5:17

For if by the one man’s offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.)

Truth to Learn

We will reign with Christ because of what He has done for us.

Behind the Words

“Offence” is from the word paraptōma, which we saw a couple verses back meaning “a falling by the wayside.”

“Death” is a word we haven’t looked at yet. It is from the Greek word thanatos, which is based on the verb thaneskō, meaning “to die.” Thanatos is actually an adjective in form but it is a noun in usage. It is used to refer to physical death (the death of our physical bodies) as well as spiritual death (exclusion from the presence and favor of God). The base meaning of this word implies separation. Regarding physical death it is the separation of the soul and spirit from the body. With respect to spiritual death is the separation of the spirit from the presence and favor of God.

The word “receive” is translated from the Greek word lambanō, meaning “to take, to accept, or to receive.” It is expressed here as a participle (who are receiving).

The word translated “abundance” is perisseia, which is based on the verb perisseuō, which we also saw a couple of verses back. Perisseia roughly means “more than enough” or “an overflowing.”

Meaning Explained

Paul now combines and summarizes the previous two verses in a single statement. He starts off with, “For if by one man’s offense death reigned.” This is another first class conditional phrase as we saw two verses back, so we can read it as, “For since by one man’s offense death reigned” But the word, “man’s” is not present in the original, so we can read this as, “For since by one offense death reigned by one (man).” Paul says death has reigned as a result of one offense by one man.

The next phrase starts out with “much more.” In other words, this phrase is of even greater impact than the previous phrase. This phrase, “those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness,” is talking about those of us who have been saved by grace through faith.

He now makes a play on words in the midst of this very difficult passage. In the first part of this verse, Paul talked about death reigning over all of mankind as a result of sin. Now he says that we who are saved will reign in life; that is, in heaven we will reign with Christ in a state of eternal life. And that reign of ours, with Christ, will be as a result of one man, Jesus Christ.

Now let’s read this entire verse: “For since by one offense death reigned by one (man), much more those receiving an excess of grace and the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by One (man), Jesus Christ.”

Application

Death reigns over us because of what Adam did, and no matter how much good we try to do, we cannot earn our way out of it. Our eternal reign with Christ, however, is God’s overflowing gift to us because of what Jesus Christ has done for us.

In God’s service, for His glory,

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Romans 5:10 – Living Salvation

Posted on February 9, 2010 by Will

Romans 5:10

For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.

Truth to Learn

Our debt was paid by Jesus’ death, but it is his resurrection to life that secures our salvation.

Behind the Words

“Enemies” is from echthros, which means “hatred, enmity, hostility, or antagonistism.” In Greek, this word is expressed in the nominative, plural. Therefore, a literal translation is “hated ones” or “enemies.”

The word translated “reconciled” is the Greek word katallassō, which is made up of kata, used as an intensifier and allasso, meaning “to change the form or nature of something.” In the New Testament this word is used to indicate the change that God makes in man through conversion so that he may be reconciled to the holy God.

The words “much more” are pollō mallon in the Greek. Mallon is a comparative indicating “more in quality or quantity” and pollō means “much in quantity or amount.” The word pollō has its own comparative form, indicating more of one thing than another. The fact that both words are used together indicates an emphasis in the comparison, that is, “a whole lot more!”

Meaning Explained

This verse represents one of the pinnacles of great theological truth found in the book of Romans. In the previous verse we learned that we were justified by the shedding of His (God the Son’s) blood and, as a result, we will be saved from His (God, the Father’s) wrath at the judgment. Now we see that it was through the death of Jesus Christ that this reconciliation took place. And now that we have been reconciled, of even greater importance is the fact that we shall be saved (from the wrath to come) by His life.

There is a subtle statement here that we don’t want to read past without recognizing. Yes, we will be saved from the wrath of God (from the Great White Throne Judgment and the lake of fire) which we discussed in the previous verse, and this is a particular point that Paul wants us to understand. The previous verse said that we will be saved from the wrath through Him. However, this verse amplifies that statement by saying that we will be saved through “His life.” Do you see that? It is the blood that satisfies God’s justice but it is Jesus’ resurrected life, the fact that he lives to intercede for us, that guarantees we will be saved and live eternally. That is the essence of the gospel which we must believe to be saved; Jesus died on the cross to pay the penalty for our sins, and He was raised from the dead (given life) that we might be saved from the Wrath of God. His eternal life is the guarantee that we, too, will be given eternal life. We must believe both in the death and the resurrection, for according to Paul, it is this resurrection and the life that He now possesses by which we will be saved.

Jesus gave His life to pay the penalty of our sins, and God the Father gave that life back to Him so that we might be saved from the wrath of our sins, if we believe in it.

Application

Do you believe it? If so, you will be saved from the wrath that you deserve. However, if you don’t believe in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, you will suffer the wrath that God says we so justly deserve.

In God’s service, for His glory,

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2 Peter 1:3 – God-given Godliness

Posted on March 29, 2009 by admin

2 Peter 1:3

His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.

Truth to Learn

All that we need for life and godliness comes from God.

Behind the Words

“Divine” is translated from theios, which is derived from theos, meaning “God.” It refers to that which is uniquely God’s and proceeds directly from Him.

The verb “has given” is translated from dōreomai, which means “to give a gift” (one that is undeserved). It is expressed here in the perfect tense, indicating past completed action with an ongoing effect, where the emphasis is on the effect.

“Knowledge” is the same word, epignōsis that we looked at in the previous verse, meaning complete, in-depth knowledge.

The word translated “goodness” is the Greek word arêtes, which means “moral excellence” or “superiority.”

Meaning Explained

In this verse Peter continues his benediction by saying that it is through His Godly power that Jesus Christ has given us all things that pertain to life and godliness. Some have supposed that this means all things that pertain to spiritual life and godliness, but I am of the persuasion that he means all aspects of life, both earthly and eternal. As born-again Christians we have everything we need to live a peaceful life and to expect eternal life in the grace of God, not because we have done anything, but because He has given it to us through His divine power.

As we noted above, the act of giving was accomplished in the past, but it has current ongoing consequences. The point when the giving actually took place can be interpreted either as the point in time when we accepted Christ as Lord and Savior or the point in eternity past when He chose us:

For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love (Ephesians 1:4)

Peter seems to imply that we receive everything we need for life and godliness by developing the in-depth, personal knowledge of God in Jesus Christ that we talked about in the last verse. He is the one who called us, and He is the one who empowers us:

And you also are among those who are called to belong to Jesus Christ. (Romans 1:6)

What I want you to see from these two verses is that God shows His grace to us and gives us peace as we recognize and accept who He is and what He has done. And because of His divinity and power, He has called us to Himself and He has given us everything we need for life and for living in a godly manner. But we only get this through understanding and thoroughly knowing who He is, how glorious He is, and how powerful He is.

Application

We must recognize that we are what we are and we have the salvation that we have solely because of who He is, not because of what we have done.

In God’s service, for His glory,

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1 Peter 3:10 – Innocent Language

Posted on January 18, 2009 by admin

1 Peter 3:10

For “He who would love life and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips from speaking deceit.

Truth to Learn

The way we speak and the things we say will have an effect on the way we live.

Behind the Words

The word translated “would” (“wants” or “wills” in some translations) is the Greek verb thelō, which means “to desire, implying active volition and purpose.” In other words, it means “to determine.” There is another word translated “will” or “want” in the New Testament. It is the Greek verb boulomai, which means “to want” or “to desire.” Whereas boulomai means “to be disposed or to intend, but not pressing on to execute that decision,” thelo implies a determination that produces action. It is a subtle, but important, distinction especially in today’s verse.

“Refrain” is translated from the Greek word pausato, which means “to stop” or “to bring to an end.” The implication is that something is already happening and we need to stop doing it.

The word translated “guile” is dolon, which means “trickery or deceit.”

Meaning Explained

In the previous verse Peter admonished us not to retaliate when people do or say bad things against us. Instead, we are to respond with “good words.” As we have discussed before, we Christians will suffer persecution on this earth. This world is not our home and we are not of this place. Our home is in the heavenlies and we are but strangers and wanderers on this earth. As such we will be treated as aliens by those who are of this world. If we have a witness that we are Christians, then the inhabitants of this world will do evil to us and they will insult us. It’s their nature.

As Christians, however, we must be ever mindful that we are the children of the King and we are His ambassadors. Since we represent Him, people should see Him in us, particularly in our actions. Not only is He the great King but He is Almighty God who is in control of all things. He knows what will make us truly happy, and in these verses Peter tells us how to be that way.

Peter is not saying that if you desire to love life, then do the following. He is saying that if you have determined to love life, then do the following. It is not a wishy-washy hope that you might love life, rather a determination that you will love life and see good days. Isn’t this what we all want (desire)? If so, then let us decide (determine) to do what it takes to have it.

Peter says, if you want to love life and see good days, you must stop using your tongue for evil and your lips from speaking guile. That is, we need to stop speaking worthless or injurious things and stop trying to trick or deceive people with our words.

Application

If you remember what we learned in our study of James, you will recognize how difficult it is to control the tongue, so what Peter is telling us, though it sounds easy, really isn’t. But that shouldn’t stop us from trying! Let your language reflect your spiritual position (in Christ) not your physical surroundings.

In God’s service, for His glory,

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