Chapter 6
V1-2 Paul immediately dispels any confusion that may be brought about by misinterpretation of his writings. The thought of justifying sin (clearly premeditated) with the self-assurance of being always afforded grace would be preposterous and defy logic, as clearly one would be abusing the grace offered in the first place, of which we know we are not deserving. Yet modern day Christendom brazenly condones all manner of sin, preaching a terrible heresy of ‘once saved always saved’, hence permitting terribly deluded ‘believers’ to indulge in awful sin ranging from the benign to the outright malignant such as homosexuality, abortion, adultery in the church, premarital sex on one extreme to the seemingly ‘lesser’ anti-Torah sins as Sabbath-breaking, non-Kosher eating, white lies, amongst others.
Preachers and pastors of today love to highlight that we are all hopeless sinners, even after justification and redemption by the blood of Yeshua, this constant message of theirs inevitably dumbing down the very fundamental need to repent and turn away once and for all from premeditated sin. Why rejoice in Yeshua’s blood atoning for our sins and then return to your evil ways, foolishly convinced that His blood continuously blots out every wilful sin committed thereafter? It is an insult to Elohim and His Son of the highest order.
V2 If sin is defined as transgression of Torah 1 John 3:4, it goes without saying that if we become dead to sin through faith, then logically we need to follow Torah thenceforth.
V3-4 This verse beautifully explains the purpose of baptism/water immersion as being a ceremony to kill our carnal sinful man, to be raised in newness of life as a regenerate man desiring to keep the laws and the commandments of his redeemer. Newness/kainotes is Greek for Holy Spirit renewed life.
V5 If we are to die with Messiah in baptism as He did-He died having taken up all the sins of the world and hence the body would have been defiled terribly by our sins in that respect- then logically when Yeshua was resurrected from the dead, He would have been pure and carried on as He did on earth following Torah truth as He is the way, the truth and the life. He could not possibly have risen from the dead and started consuming shellfish, pork, creeping things, breaking the Sabbath, condoning homosexuality, abortion, sex before marriage and the like, as He would then have regressed and would have been better of remaining dead! So, we too are in His likeness spiritually as of His post resurrection life, and live the way that He does i.e. being fully observant of the laws and commandments of Yah! It is a no brainer.
V6 reiterates the points made before
V7-10 a dead body cannot sin. Sin acts in the carnal plane through our bodily greed and desires for evil. Demons and Satan’s horde of evil spirits operate through these fleshly desires.
Knowing that we shall rise in Messiah spirit through baptism, we should also be expectant of a life thereafter devoted to living sin-free in spirit and in truth. Obviously, we are appointed once to die as that is the immutable promise given to Adam for our transgressions in Gen 2:17. Yeshua on the other hand died once, conquered death and Hades and is now living eternally unto Elohim as we shall do one day when we are resurrected and given incorruptible bodies also cf 1 Cor 15:51-54.
V11-13 We simply cannot condone sin once justified by faith. Every biblical principle screams out this reality. Like it or not Torah must be followed as it is the identifier of sin. Pork and other non-Kosher food lovers, Sabbath breakers, the sexually deviant, liars, cheaters, drunkards etc, I tell you there is no way you can justify this continued flagrant disrespect of Torah. Do not let pride and carnal desires continue to mortify your soul. Be alive to righteous living as your redeemer Yeshua is. He did not redeem you to become the opposite of Him. Today He is still a Jewish, circumcised, Sabbath observing, Kosher eating man sat at the right hand of the Father. Be like Him to avoid judgement against you. Do not allow your bodily desires which you mortified in immersion of baptism, to reappear and cause you to be as the dog that returns to its own vomit Pro 26:11; 2 Pet 2:22.
V14 Another verse avidly taken out of context by those that hate Torah truth. Paul is stating matter of factly that sin has no dominion over one who has been justified by faith in Yeshua and baptized into newness of life, meaning he is alive unto Elohim to observe Torah efficaciously led by His Holy Spirit. Grace supersedes but does not abolish Torah. If we are living a sin free life in Holy Spirit power then the identifier of sin, which is Torah, becomes irrelevant. That is simple logic. The moment you return to sinning then the law points it out to you, of which you become held under it and answerable to the curses attached to it.
V15 Paul immediately as always dispels ambiguity so that he is not misunderstood. He says Elohim forbid that being no longer under Torah means allowing us to sin again.
V16 Paul further clarifies that those not under Torah, through the virtue of grace, which supersedes it, by being under the umbrella of grace inevitably and by virtue of the nature of grace are obedient to righteousness, of which Yeshua is the Son, and the Torah of which he embodies. There is no escaping the need to obey His commandments, and no amount of twisting of verses nor word gymnastics can escape this truth.
v17-18-Paul commends the Roman ecclesia for their repentance and choice to become slaves/doulos of righteousness. Righteousness can only be defined by a set of rules, of which the only biblical blueprint of such is codified in Torah.
V19 Furthermore he commends them for discarding their once carnal enslavement to uncleanness/akarthasia/impurity and iniquity/anomia/lawlessness, choosing to become slaves of righteousness unto holiness/hagiasmos-same terminology for derivation of hagios/saints i.e. those living in holiness. The OT forms more than two thirds of scripture, and was the only text at Paul’s disposal. Holiness throughout, was defined by Torah principles and none other. For us to be considered holy it is impossible to be called so as there is no other, and has never been another measuring rod outside of Torah to set the standard.
V20 Sin is pretty much summed up as alienation from righteousness and hence righteousness is synonymous with Torah as sin is defined as transgression of Torah in 1 Jn 3:4. This is biblical truth and fact not inference nor interpretation.
V21 A truly justified repentant believer should abhor and be ashamed of transgression of Torah, yet today we see glorification of sin in the church. It is nothing new in the church as the study of 1st Corinthians reveals.
V22 everlasting life can only be dispensed to those whose fruit is holiness, of which Paul has painstakingly defined as being derived from righteousness, which is synonymous with Torah. How much more must he repeat himself to get the message across? The church truly has eyes but does not see, and ears to hear but does not hear!
V23 Famous verse parroted by Christendom, yet devoid of its implications on our lives i.e. the need to be obedient to Torah righteousness which leads to everlasting life. How can we continue to ridicule and abhor the commandments of Elohim and declare them obsolete yet love this verse which pretty much condemns us to eternal damnation? Death is derived from transgression of Torah which is the definition of sin. Yeshua’s shed blood justifies our past sins for us to start on a new slate in Holy Spirit power, following Torah written in our hearts and minds.