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In our verse by verse study of Romans last time we completed our Expanded Translation of Rom 6:14; "For the sin nature will not lord it over you: for you are not under law, but under grace."
We see here that while the Mosaic Law has a definite purpose that purpose does not include either salvation or victory over the old sin nature because the law cannot provide either salvation or victory over the sin nature.
The law only provides condemnation and believers in Jesus Christ are never under condemnation because all their sins were forgiven when they believed in Jesus Christ.
Rom 6:15; starts with a question regarding the distortion of grace. "What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace?"
It begins with the nominative neuter singular from the interrogative pronoun "tis" ((what). Plus the inferential particle "oun" (then) forming the interrogative that sets up a principle with the combination of an interrogative and elliptical idiom that means, "What then are we to conclude?"
Then the question: the aorist active subjunctive from the verb "harmartano" (shall we sin)? The constantive aorist refers to a momentary action, describing an occasional act of sin. The active voice: the believer produces the action of the verb by committing a mental, verbal, or overt sin.
The subjunctive mood is used here as a rhetorical device. Rhetorical questions in the Koine Greek represent an attitude of mind. Here the rhetorical question represents a false assumption that forms a question.
We have already seen that sin does not advance God's grace. The first half of the chapter is based upon that question in verse one. God's justice can only advance God's grace because grace is the policy of God's justice. Grace is the perfection and perfect character of God Himself.
Then we have the causal use of the conjunctive particle "hoti" (because) plus the present active indicative of the verb "eimi" (we are), plus the negative "ou" (not) that rejects the reality of the allegation.
Next we have a repetition of what we had in the closing phrase of the previous verse: the preposition "hupo" (under) plus the accusative of "nomos" (law) of "under (the authority of) law."
"but under grace?" the adversative conjunction "alla" (but) sets up a contrast between the authorities then we have "hupo" (under plus "charis:" (grace). Grace is never increased and never advanced by any function of sin, human good or evil that is produced by the old sin nature.
Grace originates from God's justice. Grace is the policy of God's justice in providing blessings for mankind so grace cannot not motivate sin because grace is from God and nothing from God motivates sin.
Since it is God's policy, grace cannot motivate sin or carnality and grace cannot motivate human good or evil.
Therefore being under the authority of grace means the use of God's grace provision to reject and oppose the trends of the old sin nature along with its sin and especially to oppose human good and evil.
Acceptance of human good and evil is the cause of the downfall of today's Christianity and Western Civilization at this time in human history because too much of today's "Christianity" has turned grace into licentiousness instead of an opportunity for righteousness.
The old sin nature does not sponsor grace. God is the author of grace; God is the user of grace; grace is God's policy, it is not the policy of the old sin nature. The old sin nature's counter attack comes in the form of good and evil, but grace comes only from God so it is perfect.
What we have in this verse a rhetorical question that is based on false assumptions from two antithetical failures, legalism and antinomianism.
To the legalist grace always appears as a license to sin. To the antinomian grace always appears as an excuse for sin. Neither of positions is correct. In fact, both legalism and antinomianism are trends of the sin nature that distort and misuse God's grace.
These distortions can only be corrected through accurate understanding of the doctrines we have noted regarding God's imputations and the baptism of the Holy Spirit.
Neither legalism nor antinomianism can break away from the ruling power of the old sin nature over life because both are misapplications.
Only God's provision through His logistical grace support can parlay His positional victory over the old sin nature into experiential victory over the old sin nature.
The question however demands an answer, and in this verse there is the negative answer. The positive answer is given in a separate paragraph, beginning in verse 16. Our answer is a very strong negative that is translated "May it not be," that is made up from two Greek words which are another idiom: "mh" (not) plus "genoito" (to become) that is the aorist active optative from the verb "ginomai" (to be).
A literal translation of the idiom is "Let it not be so." The negative "mh" (not) is a qualified negative used in the prohibitive sense in an independent clause to express a negative desire. While the negative "ou" (not) rejects the fact, the negative "mh" (not) in our context rejects the idea.
The aorist tense of ginomai is a gnomic aorist that is used for the certainty of refuting a false allegation. In other words, the idiom is telling us that this is false, it is wrong, it is out of line and that it is evil to accuse God of increasing sin with His grace.
The active voice: the false conclusion produces the action and is being rejected by the idiom. The optative mood e expresses a negative desire. This is a very strong negative idiom that deprecates the erroneous assumption stated by the debater's rhetorical question.
A good translation is "Emphatically not." Grace always emphasizes the function of God's justice, not God's love.
The negative idiom rejects the allegation that even occasional sin, human good, or the function of evil in the believer increases grace.
That is false because God's grace only increases in direct proportion to the development of the believer's capacity for blessing from maximum doctrine resident in the soul. Grace only increases with humility not arrogance.
Expanded Translation Rom 6:15; "What then are we to conclude? Shall we sin because we are not under law, but under grace? Definitely not."
We see from this verse that maximum doctrinal inculcation results in increased grace. We must recognize that grace is related to our PMA of doctrine, not our failures and disasters. Grace is the policy of God's justice in providing blessing for the believer in time as well as in eternity.
God's integrity does not depend on man's sinfulness or the production of human good, or the function of evil. God's integrity is not sponsored or increased by the function of the old sin nature or its trends.
Committing personal sin does not increase grace blessing from God's justice. Sin, human good, and evil actually increases discipline and punishment from God's justice.
Being under the authority of God's grace does not encourage us to perform acts of personal sin it motivates us to press on to maturity through consistent learning of God's Word of Truth.
Being under the authority of grace means the utilization of grace through the deployment of grace provision for victory over the lusts of old sin nature.
Victory over the old sin nature means advance to spiritual maturity where we both glorify the Lord Jesus Christ and receive maximum blessings from God's justice that are described as "exceedingly abundantly above all we could ask or think."
Remember that sin originates from the old sin nature. Human good and evil originate from the old sin nature. Grace originates from God's justice. God's justice is the source of discipline and blessing to each one of us as believers.
This means that the believer cannot perform an occasional act of sin with impunity because under the grace policy of God's justice there is always discipline. The believer cannot perform an act of human good with impunity because there always rejection of that human good under the grace policy of God's justice.
There cannot be a series of sins resulting in evil, or a series of human good acts resulting in evil, without punishment to both the individuals and the nation that they live in. In other words believers can never function under the old sin nature without consequences from grace.
Being under the authority of grace rather than the law does not imply that God's justice no longer administers punitive action for the believer who chooses to sin, perform human good, or to become involved with evil. God's justice punishes sinfulness and God's justice blesses growth in grace. Freedom from the Mosaic Law does not imply immunity from punishment or discipline.
Verses 16-23 explain the options and opportunities believers have to use their volition in their Christian life
Rom 6:16; "Do you not know that when you present yourselves to someone as slaves to obey..." The present active indicative from the perfect stem "oida" (know), plus the negative "ou" () not) "do you not know."
This is a challenge that there is something to learn and understand. This is the basic concept of life. You must understand legitimate authority in life, and the extent to which you reject legitimate authority in life is the extent to which you are destroyed by life.
The present tense is a tendential present used for an action purposed or attempted but that is not happening but it has to happen. It is imperative that it happens because when Paul wrote to the Romans a crisis was in the making.
The Roman Empire was a republic for five hundred years. But when a republic degenerates into a democracy, and democracy degenerates into anarchy as is happening in the USA and the entire world right now, a strong man always comes along and brings order out of chaos.
In Rome the strong man was Julius Caesar who transformed the republic into an empire, although that was not really his intention but in order to stop the violence and anarchy it was inevitable. After that the empire had a series of successes. All of the emperors were unbelievers but that is not important because the ruler of a country does not have to be a believer. These men were all unbelievers but they were the authority.
Remember that Jesus said: "Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and unto God the things that are God's." There is no conflict there. There is a clear division between dealing with temporal establishment and dealing with the spiritual.
The empire became a system of authority set up by Caesar that created a system of establishment and freedom. Believers lived and thrived under this system. Christianity advanced under this system. Every believer must recognize that Christianity requires freedom.
Christianity cannot evangelize without freedom from establishment. Christianity cannot teach doctrine without the protection of law and order. Freedom and establishment must go together. At this time of history the leftists are trying to create a system of freedom without establishment. That will not work because freedom is always abused unless there is a system of authority so you get anarchy.
"Do you not know?" They had to recognize that they had a problem. That is why Paul wrote in this way to these people, for they were about to destroy everything that had been gained.
They were about to lose everything because they had actually come to the attitude of anti-government authority. They refused military service and establishment principles, unless they agreed with it. Sound familiar?
The tendential present means something that is not occurring and not taking place. They do not understand the issue. The negative represents the idea of what is intended. As believers they should be under governmental authority but they are rejecting governmental authority.
The active voice: believers are not producing the action of the verb, though they should be. The indicative mood is an interrogative indicative that poses a question. Plus the conjunction "hoti" (that) that comes after words of perception, or in this case what they should understand but they don't understand.
Next is a dative masculine singular indirect object from the relative pronoun "ho" (to whom), followed by a present active indicative from "paristhemi" (standby for orders) "Do you not know that to whom you place yourself under orders." As we have noted "paristhmi" (present or standby) is a military term for recognition of authority.
The present tense is a pictorial present that describes events that are in the process of happening. The active voice: the believer places himself under the command of either the sin nature residing in the human body or under orders to God as a member of God's royal family who possess the double portion of blessing at salvation.
The first portion of the double portion comes from God the Father, the second from God the Son through the agency of God the Holy Spirit. All believers in history receive the first portion at salvation adjustment to God's justice.
In other words, the moment a person believes in Jesus Christ there are two imputations that comprise the first portion. The first of these imputations is God's judicial imputation of God's righteousness to every believer. That sets up the logistical grace pipeline for grace blessing.
At the same time there is a real imputation of eternal life that is imputed to regenerated human spirit that is the target or home that God prepared for it.
Eternal life is imputed to the human spirit at new birth. Human soul life was imputed to biological life at physical birth. At the new birth eternal life is imputed to regenerated human spirit that is prepared by God the Holy Spirit. This is the first portion that comes from God the Father.