GRACE
Part
14
Romans 1-4 divides the Christian from the non-Christian,
for these chapters deal with the subject of justification. All Christians
essentially agree with Paul’s teaching in these chapters.
Romans 5-8 divides Christians, for these chapters deal
with the subject of sanctification. Differences regarding these chapters have
produced many denominations. They define the role of grace in the life of the
believer
Although believers differ in a multiplicity of ways in
their interpretation of Romans 5-8, they divide themselves in two fundamentally
different ways of viewing this material, as seen in Augustine and Pelagius. The
positions of these two men have been studied and argued through the centuries.
As I seek to represent the essence of their positions, I
am sure that those more theologically precise than I will take exception with
my presentation. Hopefully, you will be able to catch the difference in
perception between Augustine and Pelagius and understand the profound
difference it makes in how we live the Christian life.
As we look at Romans 5-8, let’s
explore whether a person can be a saint and a sinner at the same time. In
Romans 6:20 Paul says, “For when ye were the servants of sin, ye were free from
righteousness.” Then in Romans 7:14 Paul says, “For we know that the law is
spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin.”
Pelagius argued that these two
verses proved his thesis that the “I” of Romans 7 represents the
non-Christian. We are not “the servants of sin,” and we are not ‘free
from righteousness.” Therefore, I am not “carnal, sold under sin.” You
cannot be a saint and a sinner at the same time!
Augustine reasoned the opposite.
He said that God imputes righteousness to us as taught in Romans 6:20, rather
than our having a righteousness of our own (legal rather than moral), and, as
Romans 7:14 teaches, we wrestle with sin in our lives.
The non-Christian does not long
to be freed from his sin, he enjoys it. We see this, for example, in the
militancy of homosexuals. The Holy Spirit works in the life of an individual,
convicting him of sin. He does not work in the hearts of all people.
The phrase, “it is not I but
sin that dwells in me” (Romans 7:17) teaches a dual nature in man. This
passage deals with either the unregenerate or the regenerate. If the former,
then what produced it? What causes the conflict alluded to in Romans 7?
Pelagius said that the death of Christ places all people in the position of
Adam before the Fall, but without experiencing conversion to Christ, thus
resulting in a dual nature. Augustine said that both Christ and the “old man”
living in the believer results in a dual nature.
The interpretation of this
passage rests on one’s presuppositions regarding the nature of man. If Paul in
Romans 7:14-25 describes the natural man desiring to obey the Law, then he
means that the unregenerate man wants to do good and cannot; It is not I but
sin that dwells in me” (vss. 17 and 20). This, you remember, was the
position of Pelagius. If, on the other hand, the Bible teaches that sin
influences a man’s whole being so that the unregenerate mind is corrupted by
sin, then this passage refers to a regenerate person who is struggling with his
sin nature. This was the position of Augustine.
In Romans 6-8 Paul uses the
words “body” and ‘flesh” differently. The flesh is the sin principle
housed in the body. For example,
Paul says:
For I know that in me (that is,
in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with
me: but how to perform that which is good I find not. (Romans 7:18)
I thank God through Jesus Christ
our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God: but with the flesh
the law of sin. (Romans 7:25)
That the righteousness of the
law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but
after the Spirit. For they that are after the flesh do mind the
things of the flesh: but they that are after the Spirit the
things of the Spirit. For to be carnally (fleshly) minded is
death: but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.
Because the carnal mind is
enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can
be. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. But ye
are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell
in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.
(Romans
8:4-9)
And if Christ be in you, the body
is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. But if
the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, be that
raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies
by his Spirit that dwelleth in you. (Romans 8:10-11)
And not only they, but ourselves
also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within
ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body. (Romans 8:23)
In this portion of the Scripture
‘flesh” is the old nature that wars against the new man in the life of
the believer, the sin principle, with which the believer must deal as long as
he is in the body. The “body” is good, the ‘flesh” is bad. Romans 7:5
says, ‘When we were in the flesh.” We are not in the flesh in the
sense that we are free from the dominion of sin. Jesus broke the POWER of sin,
and it no longer reigns in our lives. I am “captive to the law of sin” in
the sense that as long as I am in this body it will find a vehicle of
expression. Thus death is the final deliverance from the terrible, captivating
influence of sin.
Just as you can be both a saint
and a sinner at the same time, so also “sold under sin” refers to both a
believer and an unbeliever. Romans 6:20 refers to the unregenerate and Romans
7:23 to the believer.
Romans 7 doesn’t so much teach
that we are slaves to sin as it teaches that the Law cannot sanctify us. In
Christ we are free from sin. Sin “shall have no more dominion over us.” We
will explore this more thoroughly in the next issue, but Paul is teaching that
the Law cannot sanctify the believer.
The emphasis of the chapter
isn’t that I am under the flesh or the sin principle and need deliverance by
the Spirit. Although the chapter includes this truth, Paul teaches that I am so
influenced by the presence of sin that the Law cannot help me find a solution
to my problem.
The contrast in Romans 7 isn’t
between the FLESH and the SPIRIT, but rather between the FLESH and the LAW. The contrast between the flesh
and the spirit is the subject of Romans 8:1-13.
Therefore, as I live out my
Christian life, I am both a saint and a sinner. As I progressively become less
a sinner and more a saint, the Law is powerless to help. If anything, it
complicates the problem. Only Christ can solve the problem, and then only when
I am in union with Him through the Holy Spirit. Still, although I experience
progress, the presence of sin isn’t eradicated until I am dead. I will develop
this more fully in the next issue.
God justifies the believer for
the purpose of leading him to sanctification. God never justifies us
in order to affirm us in our
sin. God works in our lives to “will and do of His good pleasure” (Philippians2:13).
“We are His workmanship, created
in Christ Jesus unto good works” (Ephesians 2:10).
Again, Paul says in Romans
6:12-13: “Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey
it in the lusts thereof. Neither yield ye your members as instruments of
unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are
alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto
God.”
All Christians agree that this
is so. This raises the question: Can you look to sanctification to determine
justification? If a Christian is both a saint and a sinner, how do you look to
sanctification to determine justification? The heart of the Lordship/Salvation
debate revolves around this question. The argument between Augustine and
Pelagius did not deal with this, rather those who hold the Augustinian view
debate it among themselves.
God designed the doctrine of
assurance of salvation for the obedient. Those who willfully and with an
unrepentant heart break the commandments of God have no Biblical basis for
assurance of their salvation. Paul says in I Corinthians 6:9-10:
Know ye not that the unrighteous
shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor
idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with
mankind, Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor
extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.
When a professing, unrepentant
Christian breaks one of God’s negative commandments, his church must discipline
him in accordance with I Corinthians 5. Bible-believing people agree that we
should follow this procedure. Grace does not grant the believer a license to
sin.
We disagree, however, on what to
do with people who do not meet our expectations regarding the positive
commands, such as attendance at the gathering of God’s people or enthusiasm
regarding the things of our Lord. Also, what do we do with people who break the
positive commands, repent, break them again, etc.? Do we discipline them for
failure to perform? When you look to sanctification to determine justification,
you tend to conclude from such behavior that such people are not Christians.
In Jesus’ parable of the sower
(Mark 4:1-20) He identifies four soils. You can fairly easily conclude that the
first soil is a non-Christian and the last is a believer. But what about soils
two and three? Can you consider a person whose life is marked by “the cares
of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lust of other things
entering in” (Mark 4:19 - soil three) a Christian? Most who argue for
Lordship/Salvation say no, a child of God does not behave this way.
When you reason this way,
performance mitigates grace and acceptance depends upon the person meeting
extra-Biblical standards. Although you agree that a Christian can be both a
saint and sinner at the same time, the litmus test for sainthood becomes your
expectations, rather than God’s, for even though the “commando of Mark 4:19 is
clear, people differ on what “the cares of this world….“ look
like.
God expects justification to lead to sanctification,
but you must take care to ensure that when you look to sanctification to
determine justification, you use only the negative commandments found in the
New Testament. Failure in this regard results in abusing the grace of God.
Resting
in His grace,