Rebound revisited, part 14. 1Jo 1:9; 2Co 7:1; Rom 6:12-14; Heb 12:1-4.

Title: Rebound revisited, part 14. 1JO 1:9; 2CO 7:1; ROM 6:12-14; HEB 12:1-4.     

 

I’ve chosen two passages to illustrate the principle of volition in fighting the good fight of faith, ROM 6:12-14; HEB 12:1-4.

 

ROM 6:12 Therefore do not let sin reign [present active imperative] in your mortal body that you should obey its lusts,

 

“reign” - basileu,w[basileuo; present active imperative] = to reign as king, or to govern.

 

ROM 6:13 do not go on presenting [present active imperative] the members of your body to sin as instruments [tools of a shop or of war] of unrighteousness; but present [aorist active imperative] yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God.

 

“presenting” - pari,sthmi[paristemi] = to yield, or to present beside someone to receive orders.

Present active imperative = stop current trend of yielding free will to OSN.

Aorist active imperative = begin immediately to yield free will to God.

 

“unrighteousness” - avdiki,a[adikia] = a - negative; dikaios = God’s righteousness or integrity, therefore opposition to God in all realms.

 

“instruments” - o[plon[hoplon] = tools of a shop or more often the tools or weapons of war. There is a contrast of weapons here, the God’s weapons or the weapons of God’s opposition.

 

With the believer as the subject, it is the active imperatives that are commands in which the producer of the action is the believer.

 

[skip back to “presenting”] The believer in whom there is a desire to fulfill the active indicatives that God has shown him has taken a major step in becoming a weapon that is useful to the master in this conflict.

 

“master” - kurieu,w[kurieuo; future active indicative] = to have dominion over, or to be lord of. Future tense reveal’s Paul’s confidence in them that they will submit to God’s will.

 

The future tense really does indicate in grace that no matter how much we may be struggling with the rulership of the flesh at any given time in our lives, that if we endure and don’t quit on doctrine we will in the future, and hopefully not too distant future, that the true Master over us is the King of kings and Lord of lords. However, if we refuse to recover and we do quit then the sin nature will be master over us and Paul’s optimism is for naught.

 

Two other appropriate places where this verb is used:

 

HEB 12:1 Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance, and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,

 

“lay aside” - avpotiqe,mi[apotithemi; aorist middle participle] = apo = from and tithemi = to put, to place, to lay down. Literally: to lay aside from yourself.

 

“encumbrance” - o;gkoj[ogkos] = weight, mass, bulk, burden, or hindrance. Writer does not specify - “every.”

 

“sin” - a`marti,a[hamartia; singular] = sin nature. Lay aside or stop the current trend of sin.

 

In other words, I can lay aside a sin and return to it immediately, this means to stop the current trend of sin.

 

“easily entangles” - euvperi,statoj[euperistatos] = that which stands around easily, easily distracting, that which skillfully besets us.

 

“endurance” - u`pomonh,[hupomone] = same root word as, “if we endure, we will rule with Him” (2TI 2:12). To remain under, patience, endurance.

 

Success, reigning with Christ, victory in our lives through Christ are all consistently tied in with recovery from walking in darkness and the choice to walk in the light.

 

HEB 12:2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

 

HEB 12:2 Looking off and away to Jesus (occupation with Christ), the Prince Ruler and completer of our faith, who in place of the present happiness set before Him endured the cross despising the shame and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. (corrected translation).

 

HEB 12:3 For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you may not grow weary [to faint in the soul] and lose heart.

 

HEB 12:4 You have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood in your striving against sin;

 

“resisted” - to place in opposition, or to stand against. “striving” - to struggle against, to fight, to strive against.

 

Striving in HEB 12:4 [antagonizomai] and “fight the good fight” in 1TI 6:12 [agonizomai] are very similar. The added prefix anti means against - a word frequently used of warfare.

 

The churches that John was writing his first epistle to were losing the fight because they had believed false doctrine from false teachers. Judge yourself, acknowledge that you were born in sin and are a sinner, acknowledge any current trend of sin, remember the cross so there is no guilt or condemnation and move your thinking back into the light and fight to good fight of faith.

 

If the believer wants the HS or the word to force them to make decisions in a robotic sort of way then he is stating clearly that he personally would rather not choose the things of God but would rather have someone else do that for him.

 

This only reveals that he doesn’t see the light, beauty, majesty, and power of the holiness of God, for if he did, he would choose for it. And then he would also know that he is under grace, lavished grace, and that he can choose to live a life in God’s integrity (holiness) without the fear of failure, because knowing he will fail, he also knows that Christ covered that failure.

 

We are so often at the crossroads of faith in God’s word or taking orders from the sin nature which will lead to doubt, worry, anxiety, fear, revenge, arrogance, self absorption, self justification, self deception, anger, inordinate ambition and competition, jealousy, self pity, loneliness, boredom, as well as sins of the tongue or overt sins. Plainly this is not the life of the temple of God. So when we do it, and we will, recover quickly and think the truth and if we are at that crossroad, stand firm, hold your ground and aggressively apply doctrine for this is the birthright of the new creature in Christ.

 

EPH 2:10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk [aorist active subjunctive] in them.

 

EPH 2:1 And you were dead in your trespasses and sins,

 

EPH 2:2 in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience [the believer’s sonship has changed completely].

 

EPH 2:3 Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh [sarx] and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest.

 

EPH 2:4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us,

 

EPH 2:5 even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved),

 

EPH 2:6 and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places, in Christ Jesus,

 

EPH 2:7 in order that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.

 

EPH 2:8 For by grace you have been saved (repeated from verse 5) through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God;

 

EPH 2:9 not as a result of works, that no one should boast.

 

EPH 2:10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

 

EPH 4:1

I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, entreat you to walk [aorist active infinitive] in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called,

 

EPH 4:17

This I say therefore, and affirm together with the Lord, that you walk [present active infinitive] no longer just as the Gentiles also walk, in the futility of their mind,

 

EPH 5:2

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

 

EPH 5:8-9

for you were formerly darkness, but now you are light in the Lord; walk [present active imperative] as children of light (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness and righteousness and truth),

 

EPH 5:15-16

Therefore be [present active imperative] careful how you walk [present active indicative], not as unwise men, but as wise, making the most of your time, because the days are evil.

 

2CO 7:1Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit [recovery], perfecting holiness in the fear [awe and respect] of God.

 

This is the second letter to the Corinthians and they have had plenty of time to learn and appreciate the holiness of God. Yet they continued to choose the ways of defilement.

 

Cleansing was complete at the cross, but the believer can still live in unclean thoughts - sin or human good. Recovery is needed.

 

When will you desire and love the ways of God more than the ways of the sin nature and the world? God gives each believer enough time to come to a final answer in his life - in grace.