March - Reading 8

Good afternoon -

Today's scripture in our reading plan are:

Matthew 23:25-39

Romans 6:1-14

Psalm 55

Numbers 18-20

May God grant you wisdom asyou read from His Word.

 

Good evening -

The passages on which I would like to concentrate in Numbers tonight is chapter 20, verses 1-13. This passgage will come back to haunt Moses in the end of the Torah as he gazes over the plains of Moab from his perch on Mount Nebo. How often do we strike the rock rather than speaking to it? This is vanity, a sin to the sight of God when we try to put ourselves in power rather than remaining humble servants.
Even at that, however, God still provided water for His people. This passage follows the adversities of Miriam, Aaron, and Korah where God made sure that Moses' authority stayed unrivaled. One lesson that can be gleaned from this is that even when our leaders mess up, God will not forsake us.

In Romans tonight, I would like to note chapter 6 verses 1 & 2. Just because Christ died for and forgave us of our sins, we are still bound to a code of conduct as we read the other night in Romans 2. This ties in with a concept that we beat to death all the time here on the Baptist Board. We are saved by grace through faith and works (or deeds) are a result of this. The works do not save us once we have received the gospel, but the works do characterize our conduct as Christians.

May God bless you

- Clint

 

Not so. In Colossians 2:11-14 Paul speaks specifically of the relationship between baptism and circumcision contrasting the two as symbolic acts calling baptism the "circumcision made without hands."

There are a few other points that should be considered as well: We learn in Colossians that baptism symbolizes our death and burial in our repentance as we submerge, and our resurrection in faith as we are brought out of the water. Burial is the disposal of the body in the spiritual circumcision as reflected in Mark 8:34 and a sense of sharing in Christ’s death to sin. The rising is our trust in the Divine Power that raised Christ and also will raise us.

It should be noted that some faiths have interpreted the close proximity of circumcision and baptism in this Passage to show that baptism is the substitute for circumcision under the New Covenant. This is not at all what Paul is saying. This position is easily refuted as it makes the use of both acts by the Jews, including Christ, inexplicable. It also counters why Peter would refuse to eat with uncircumcised, yet baptized, Christians. It also defies reason that Paul would not have used this argument in his various arguments against Christian circumcision.

Paul is not comparing the two acts. To the contrary, he is contrasting them. This is another strong support against paedobaptism. All that circumcision signified – the putting away of flesh – is accomplished through the convert’s faith. Baptism signifies the obedience displayed by the believer’s heart

[ March 08, 2004, 05:47 PM: Message edited by: Clint Kritzer ]

 

Sunday School lecture – 10/23/05

Romans 6:1-14

Paul’s arguments in chapter 5 showed the way in which the righteous act of Christ superabounded over the sinful act of Adam and reflected the glory of God. As “all” had sinned and the act of Christ which brings justification brought God’s glory to focus, those who opposed Paul may have taken his conclusion to the extreme and stated that Paul was teaching his listeners to sin so that God’s glory may be revealed even more.

Paul must have faced these arguments often as in chapter 6 he returns to the diatribe style of chapters 2-4. He asks the questions that his opponent would raise in order that he may address them. In this particular instance the question is, “Why should I cease sinning if God’s grace abounds over it and shows His great love to the rest of mankind?”

In confronting the legalism of the Jewish system that taught justification or righteousness through works, Paul had indeed unequivocally stated that a man is justified through faith. With that extreme addressed, Paul must now defend his position against the antinomians who taught that the moral law had also been abolished. Neither extreme was acceptable. While man can never earn God’s favor, the Christian believer is responsible for moral conduct that reflects his relationship with Christ. He must seek to make himself holy as God is holy. This endeavor under the guidance of the Spirit is what we know as sanctification. (Matthew 5:48; Ephesians 4:22-24)

Romans 6:1-4 Appeal to Christian Baptism

Paul begins his diatribe with the question, “What shall we say then?” followed immediately by the question his opponents must have put to him, “Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound?” The answer to the question is a resounding “No!”

Death to sin delivers one from the reign of sin and wrath and into the new dominion of righteousness and sanctification. To be dead to something denotes that it has no influence over us. If we are dead to sin and it has no influence over us, it is absurd to suggest that we should continue to act as though we are alive in sin.

The appeal made to baptism beginning in verse 3 is not a debate over the mode as so much discussion has suggested. From the context Paul is obviously speaking of immersion and it almost unanimous among scholars from all denominations that immersion is implied in the analogy. This is not a Baptist bias but a well recognized historical fact.

Even the root meaning of baptism is assumed here. Though baptism was practiced by many ancient cultures in varying forms, for the Jewish people the rite of baptism was associated with purification. This was the basic idea behind John’s baptism for the “remission of sins.” When the early Christians were baptized “into Christ,” they were consecrated into His service. They became His disciples and He became their Lord. Baptism is the rite of passage from the old dominion of sin to the new dominion of righteousness. The question in verse 3, “Do you not know?” assumes that the Romans did know demonstrating that his teachings were not novel.

The key idea in this Passage is that in our baptism into Christ is a baptism into His death. Christ was dead to sin and by becoming a part of the corporate Christ we share in that death. The new life we receive in Christ is not a license for sin and sensuality. It is a new life in the Spirit.

Paul continues the analogy of baptism to Christ in that just as we die to sin and are buried with Christ, so too we rise from that death. God’s power is the agent that enables us to do so. In between the time that we as Christians die to sin in the past and be resurrected to life in the future, we are called to “walk,” a Hebrew designation for moral conduct. (1John 2:6)

Romans 6:5-11 Appeal to the Christ Event

In becoming disciples to Christ we become united to Him, both in His death and in His resurrection. The Greek sumphutos translated as “planted together” in the KJV literally means sown or planted together as one would do with grains. Hence, we are described as being intimately connected to Christ, being of the same type. As such we share in His death and in His resurrection and His behavior. (1Corinthians 12:12-13)

Once gain Paul states in verse 6 that this was a known doctrine. Jesus’ crucifixion served to also crucify our corrupt nature, what Paul refers to as the “old man,” or in other Passages, “the old self.” With the old self dead, it is no longer under the dominion of sin. By no longer being in servitude to sin, we are free to live in servitude to God. (1Peter 2:24)

Paul continues that Christ’s death was a one-time event. In conquering death Christ conquered its dominion. The terror of death has no sway over the believer for we share not only in the death of Jesus but the resurrection as well. In being baptized into Christ’s death that served to conquer sin, we are called to forsake sin as those who are planted together with Him. In being united to Christ, it is our obligation to emulate Him.

Romans 6:12-14 Appeal to Christian Commitment

Though it is the resurrected body in which we will share our existence with Christ, the present physical, mortal and dying body of the Christian is still subject to temptation. The passions, or evil desires, of the body will be discussed more fully in chapter 7. Paul uses military terminology to describe the members of the body as instruments or weapons. These weapons may be used to defend the tyranny of sin or the glory of God. By yielding the organs of our bodies to God we are submitting to His Lordship. Luther’s maxim is quite appropriate: Become what you are!

Sin is no longer lord over those who have been liberated by the act of Christ on the cross. Law is also a lord in the dominion of sin as it acted to arouse the awareness of sin and to work the wrath of God by making sin into trespass. The power of the Law to make one a servant of sin is never far from Paul’s mind and he will address this as the central theme in the next chapter. Here, however, Law is mentioned to remind the Christian that he is no longer under Law but grace. A life under grace is one that has died to sin and risen to live for God in the newness of life. The law of sin and death that was increased by the Law of Moses has lost its power to lord over those set free in Christ. Therefore, sin has no place in the new life under the new dominion.

 

Tomorrow's schedule is:

Matthew 24:1-14

Romans 6:15-23

Psalm 56

Numbers 21-22

 

Tomorrow's schedule is:

Matthew 24:1-14

Romans 6:15-23

Psalm 56

Numbers 21-22

 

Tomorrow's schedule is:

Matthew 24:1-14

Romans 6:15-23

Psalm 56

Numbers 21-22

 

Tomorrow's schedule is:

Matthew 24:1-14

Romans 6:15-23

Psalm 56

Numbers 21-22