Angelic Conflict part 305: Reigning in life – Rom 5:20-21; 1Jo 4:9-10; Eph 1:4-6; 13-14; 5:1-2; Col 1:13-14; 3:12-13; 1Th 1:4.

Title: Angelic Conflict part 305: Reigning in life - ROM 5:20-21; 1JO 4:9-10; EPH 1:4-6; 13-14; 5:1-2; COL 1:13-14; 3:12-13; 1TH 1:4.

 

ROM 5:20 And the Law came in that the transgression might increase; but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more,

 

ROM 5:21 that [in order that], as sin reigned in death [spiritual death], even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

 

In verse 21 sin and grace are both personified as monarchs or those who reign. Feminine nouns - queens. One gives death. The other gives righteousness and eternal life.

 

God paints them as such opposites and at such enmity with one another as if to appeal to us plainly, “Which would you rather set your mind upon?” We have seen that God separates believers into two categories, those who set their minds on the flesh and those who set their minds on the Spirit. Though dead and crucified we can still set our minds on our old husband, and God is appealing to us through love, “Look what each of them offers.”

 

The queen of sin gives the gift of death. The queen of grace gives the gifts of righteousness and eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

 

Each recognize that they are the enemy of the other. One, sin and death, has established her reign over all of mankind. All are born into the world under her despotic rule. The other, grace, is fighting to establish her reign in the life of every man (might reign, subjunctive). The struggle has gone on between them since the resurrection, ascension, and session of Christ in the wide field that is the world and more narrowly in the hearts of each man, both believer and unbeliever.

 

No matter how good a man may be according to world standards, sin has completely established her reign amongst mankind. Her reign is only broken in Christ.

 

In the summing up of all of man's actions against God, whether it is criminality, or vices, or lusts, or ignorance, or pride, all sin is against God and all sin originates from independence from God.

 

This is a wakeup call to all believers who are now not alienated from the Lord.

 

We are to no longer depend on ourselves or anything in the world and to completely and fully depend upon Him in everything and in every moment.

 

To claim myself for my own, to act independently of, or contrary to, the will of God, to try to shake myself clear of Him, to have nothing to do with Him, even though it be mere forgetfulness and negligence, and in all my ways to conduct myself as if I had no relations of dependence on and submission to Him - this comprises all sin.

 

Many things are loudly proclaimed as sins by mankind like murder, theft, assault, abuse, etc. and they are, but there are many things under the radar of man's cloudy vision that are sin against God and are even thought to be noble and pure. If there is an assertion of self or a desire to fulfill the flesh in anything it is evil and of the old sin nature of man.

 

ROM 3:23

for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

 

Man by man's standards applauds his achievements, but to God they make nothing more than a dung hill or a pile of dirty rags.

 

PHI 3:8

More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish in order that I may gain Christ

 

ISA 64:6

For all of us have become like one who is unclean,

And all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment;

And all of us wither like a leaf,

And our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.

 

Sin has reigned so tremendously with power that men are often unconscious of it. It is impossible for man to break his slavery to sin and death and only the gospel has the power to awaken man to the complete hopelessness of his position.

 

No believer can break the rule of sin over an unbeliever's heart. The power is in the gospel and therefore in the finished work of Christ. It's not how cleverly anyone witnesses or with what force of voice, but the power is in the accuracy of the gospel, not mixed with works, but completely in grace that the Lord has died for all sin and salvation is in no other name under heaven.

 

1CO 1:17

 For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not in cleverness of speech, that the cross of Christ should not be made void.

 

Of course, there is the witness of the life, but that is a witness of the love, peace, and contentment that a believer enjoys because of his faith in the gospel and so it is simply another manifestation of gospel. The mature ambassador for Christ has life and peace as well as boldness of speech, not being ashamed of the gospel.

 

The truth of Christ's victory over death is simple, plain, and straight forward - Christ died for the sins of the world, was buried, and rose again. It is the Holy Spirit that makes the gospel understandable to the unbeliever since the flesh cannot submit to the will of God and it is God's will that all men be saved.  

 

The believer is tasked with witnessing of the gospel, but the power to break the iron rule of the sin nature in an unbeliever is in the gospel, the work of Christ, and the common grace of the HS.

 

The hideous queen of sin and death is much like an unknown and unseen parasite within a host that slowly eats away the flesh and drinks away the blood until the host dies. Without the gospel there would be no diagnosis of her despotic rule. She robes herself in a dark cloud and envelopes life after life as they come into this world, much to the applause of the god of this world. It is in fact the most depressing of all stories, and I suppose the most depressing part of it is that it is not a story at all, but a past and present reality. But then God turns the page and states that grace might rule through righteousness, and not man's counterfeit righteousness but the very righteousness of Christ.

 

The queen of grace exposes the deceptive work of the queen of sin and she wars against sin through the person of Christ.

 

Christ came to bind the strong man and to set the captives free.

 

This was done in prophecy and typology in the OT. The animal sacrifices and the feast days were to reveal to them the coming Messiah who would take away their sin. But when Christ entered the world the war was greatly intensified and grace and mercy through the love of God was God's ultimate weapon to defeat the ruler of darkness and the queen of sin, both of whom together had power over death. Grace and mercy through God's love brought the queen of grace and together they have the power over righteousness and eternal life.

 

Both Christ and grace through Him came to man from the love of God.

 

JOH 3:16

For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life.

 

Neither satan or the queen of sin and death fears any man, but Christ they fear. He brought the love of God, the power of God, and the kingdom of God to earth and cast out demons, defeated satan's temptations, raised people from the dead, and crucified all sin in a tremendous display of God's power. They fear Christ.

 

1JO 4:9 By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him.

 

1JO 4:10 In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

 

The only hope for the world that is under the tyranny of the queen of sin is the love of God through Jesus Christ our Lord.

 

The ultimate weapon of the queen of grace is the love of God.

 

Yet as we have seen, the same sun can melt wax and harden clay. It is man's response in faith to the love of God in the gospel of Christ that will manifest the complete eradication of the queen of sin and death and the installment forever of the queen of grace on the throne of a person's life. The same love of God hardens some hearts and softens other's; all based on the volitional faith of each.

 

In the believer's life, grace will not reign until that believer sees Christ sitting at the right hand of God and who understands and believes his complete transformation to life and his position in Christ.

 

He must come to fully realize that the Father loves him just as much as He loves Christ. He must also realize that all of Christ's inheritance has been given to him.

 

Grace will not reign until in the believer's experience until he sees Christ exalted, understands his position, realizes the love God has for him, and that Christ's inheritance is his.

 

These things are supernatural and freely given and so are under grace. Not seeing, understanding, and believing in these things will result in the believer looking for something else to fulfill his heart. Nothing in the flesh or the world system is supernatural and nothing is freely given, no matter what the packaging says.

 

EPH 1:4 In love

 

EPH 1:5 He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will,

 

EPH 1:6 to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved.

 

We are in the Beloved and we are beloved, therefore the Father loves us as much, and in the same way as He loves His Son.

 

EPH 5:1 Therefore be imitators [mimic] of God [present middle imperative], as beloved children;

 

EPH 5:2 and walk in love [present active imperative], just as Christ also loved you, and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma.

 

COL 1:13 For He delivered us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son,

 

COL 1:14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

 

COL 3:12 And so, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on [imperative] a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience;

 

COL 3:13 bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone; just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you.

 

1TH 1:2 We give thanks to God always for all of you, making mention of you in our prayers;

 

1TH 1:3 constantly bearing in mind your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ in the presence of our God and Father,

 

1TH 1:4 knowing, brethren beloved by God, His choice of you;

 

1TH 1:5 for our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction; just as you know what kind of men we proved to be among you for your sake.

 

2TH 2:13 But we should always give thanks to God for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God has chosen you from the beginning for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and faith in the truth.

 

Those that are beloved in the same way as the Son (all believers) receive the same inheritance as the Son.

 

EPH 1:13 In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation —  having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise,

 

EPH 1:14 who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God's own possession, to the praise of His glory.

 

Man's rebellion against God was stubborn and universal and it has only increased as God's revelation increased, but where sin increased grace super-abounded all the more.