By Dennis Pollock
In this devotional, I want us to look at two verses from the apostle Paul’s epistle to the Romans. These verses are exactly one chapter apart from one another and are found in the first verse of Romans 5 and the first verse of the very next chapter. Let’s start with Romans 5. Paul writes:
Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ… (Romans 5:1)
This is a classic verse that sums up the major point Paul is making throughout the Book of Romans, and indeed, throughout all His writings. It sums up Paul’s theology by declaring that we are justified in God’s sight through faith in Jesus, and because of justification, we have peace with God.
In the church today, this is not a radical or revolutionary concept. Virtually all born-again Christians understand that we are saved by faith in Christ, and not by our good works or efforts to earn God’s favor. This is perhaps the most commonly held belief in the evangelical church. We may differ about the timing of the rapture, we may fight over the idea of predestination, we may squabble about whether our church worship should be traditional or contemporary, but we all agree that we are, to quote Paul’s words in Ephesians “saved by grace through faith.” (Ephesians 2:8). And of course, that faith is not some general optimism but a specific faith in Jesus Christ, His cross, and His resurrection.
Free Grace Brings Transformation
Sometimes, when I teach that repentance and faith are part of the same package, and that Christians are obligated to follow God’s moral commands, some people object. They are so committed to the idea of salvation through faith that it bothers them to hear someone declare that you cannot simply say “I believe” and go right on living in selfishness, lust, greed, and sexual immorality. They will leave a comment under my video, declaring “I believe in free grace.” They suppose that they are saying something novel, something that I have never considered. But I, too, believe fully in free grace, in being saved by grace through faith. I believed that when many of these complainers were still in diapers. Of course, I believe in justification through faith in Jesus – how could I believe anything else? But free grace always, always, always includes transformation of heart and life, and repentance from sin and selfishness.
And if you do not believe that, let’s consider Paul’s other verse, exactly one chapter after this one. We just read Romans 5:1; now let’s read Romans 6:1:
What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? (Romans 6:1)
This is a rhetorical question, a question that Paul feels should be obvious to His believing readers. Paul assumes that his readers will instantly realize that to receive Jesus by faith, and then go right on sinning, right on lying, right on fornicating and stealing, is an oxymoron, and an obvious falsehood. And Paul says as much in the very next verse, writing: “Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?” (Romans 6:2). Paul tells us here that we who have believed in Jesus are to be considered those “who died to sin,” and cannot possibly live in the mudhole of wickedness and moral folly. It’s not possible for us to truly hold on to Jesus by faith and continue to offend God by our flagrantly sinful lives. To be saved is not only to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit and not only receive eternal life – to be saved is also to “die to sin.”
Dead People Stop Sinning
Dead people don’t rob banks, commit adultery, and they never curse or tell lies – and Paul says we are dead to sin! Paul seems concerned that some who read about his doctrine of being justified by faith will see this teaching as a free pass to sin heartily and often, without any concern or guilt. So he writes Romans 6, which totally annihilates this idea. In this chapter, Paul writes: “…knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him (Christ), that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin.” (Romans 6:6). Who is this “old man” who has been “done away with?” Paul is speaking of our sinful nature, which has alienated us from God and continually moved us to behave wickedly. In the past, we were helpless to resist its lusts and urges, but now that we are in Christ, this nature has been somehow neutralized to such a degree that we are no longer enslaved to sin.
Throughout this section of Romans, Paul hammers on this theme. In another place, he declares: “Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 6:11). Paul is writing this to Christians; he is not writing to the unbelievers, and he is telling them that this is how they must think of themselves. They must consider themselves “dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.” According to the inspired Scriptures, this is how we must think of ourselves. Let me ask you a question: Have you ever thanked God that you are dead to sin but alive to God in Christ? Few Christians probably have. But this is precisely how the Holy Spirit tells us we are to think about ourselves.
Paul goes on to say: “Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts.” (Romans 6:12). This is the grace life! This is what it means to be justified by faith. Through the power of the grace of Jesus, we can forbid sin to rule over us. And later Paul announces: “For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace.” (Romans 6:14). We who are in Christ, Christians, born-again children of God must never be ruled by sin, because of the grace of Jesus working powerfully in us.
Free Grace & Victory are not Exclusive
Free grace and freedom from the power of sin are not enemies that are mutually exclusive. They are friends that are inexorably linked together in the package that we know as salvation in Christ. Where there is one there must be the other.
Suppose you find a man lying on the sidewalk outside your house. He is not moving at all. You put your face close to his nose to see if he is breathing, and you discover that there is no breath coming from his nostrils. You check his pulse and find that he has no pulse – his heart is not beating, as he lies there totally motionless. You make the only reasonable conclusion you can make; you decide that this man is dead. When there is no heartbeat, when a person is not breathing or moving, what other conclusion could you draw? And so it is with salvation in Christ. Where you find the free grace of Jesus, you will find godly living. If our faith is genuine, if we have been redeemed and truly made alive with free grace, then sin will no longer dominate us. And our self-perception must match this Scriptural truth – that we are dead unto sin and alive unto God in Christ Jesus our Lord. How can we who died to sin live any longer therein?
