Speaking the Truth in Love
Romans Chapter 6
On "Speaking the Truth in Love", we fervently believe that when we study God's Word with open hearts, we can all unite on God's Truth. God does not agree to disagree. The idea of figurative or symbolic language is used throughout the Bible. Whether a passage is literal or figurative can be determined by reading the context of the passage. Romans Chapter 6 is like this also. Let us begin our study.
ROMANS CHAPTER 6
Romans 6:1-7 - Burial with Christ - not a burial in dirt but rather a burial in water. A spiritual or figurative death of crucifying the old man and destroying the body of sin to rise a new creature. Does the physical body change after baptism? The answer is no. It will get wet, but no physical change will take place. But there is a cleansing and change of the heart (Hebrews 10:19-23, 1 Peter 3:21).
Romans 6:8-15 - Living for Christ - Once we have risen from the waters of baptism, we are a new creature that lives a life in service for the King (1 Peter 2:4-12, Ephesians 2:8-10, Galatians 2:20). Our number one priority is to diligently serve Him each day (Matt. 6:33, 2 Peter 3:14).
Romans 6:15-23 - Bondage of sin - Are we really in literal slavery to sin or is it a figurative way to describe how trapped we are in life when we are living a life of sin?
Who are the ones we know are in the bondage (or in the prison) of sin?
1. Christians who have fallen away (2 Peter 2:18-22, 3:17-18) and once again have become entangled in worldly lusts.
2. Friends, neighbors, co-workers, and classmates who are decent moral people (Acts 10:1-6, 11:13-14).
3. Those who are religious and belong to denominational churches and other manmade religions (Matthew 7:21-24, 15:9).
4. There is another group of people who are in bondage to sin. According Webster's dictionary,blasphemy is "the act of insulting or showing contempt or lack of reverence for God". This could include taking God's name in vain, using profane or irreverent language, speaking out against God, or simply not respecting God or His Word. We have a lot of this type of behavior today. Even by people who claim to be of God. These people are in bondage to sin (Matt. 15:18-20, 27:39-40, Acts 26:11, Colossians 3:8, Revelation 2:9 - Is this literally the synagogue of Satan?).
The people we have talked about tonight are all in slavery. They are in prison. Not a literal prison, but a spiritual prison of sin. The only way out of this bondage is obedience to Jesus (John 14:6, Matthew 28:18-20). This prison will lead to a place where death is experienced forever, over and over (Matthew 25:46). Jesus is real. Heaven is real. Hell is real. If you are in the bondage of sin, why not decide to obey Jesus tonight? He wants you to come to Him so you can be free of sin and live eternally (Matthew 11:28-30, John 8:31-36, 2 Peter 3:9).
We want to help in any way we can. Please contact us by telephone, e-mail, or simply come to one of our assemblies. We also hope to see you next time on "Speaking The Truth In Love" in two weeks on July 21 when we hope to study "Why Study The Bible?".
