Angelic Conflict part 295: Reigning in life – Rom 5:12-21; 7:1,4; 2Pe 1:1-8; Exo 19:4-22; Heb 12:18-29.
Title: Angelic Conflict part 295: Reigning in life – Rom 5:12-21; 7:1,4; 2Pe 1:1-8; Exo 19:4-22; Heb 12:18-29.
Rom 5:12 Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned —
Rom 5:13 for until the Law sin was in the world; but sin is not imputed when there is no law.
Rom 5:14 Nevertheless death reigned from Adam until Moses, even over those who had not sinned in the likeness of the offense of Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come.
Rom 5:15 But the free gift is not like the transgression. For if by the transgression of the one the many died, much more did the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abound to the many.
Rom 5:16 And the gift is not like that which came through the one who sinned; for on the one hand the judgment arose from one transgression resulting in condemnation, but on the other hand the free gift arose from many transgressions resulting in justification.
Rom 5:17 For if by the transgression of the one, death reigned through the one, much more those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.
Rom 5:18 So then as through one transgression there resulted condemnation to all men, even so through one act of righteousness there resulted justification of life to all men.
Rom 5:19 For as through the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, even so through the obedience of the One the many will be made righteous.
There is something here below the surface, for vs. 19 is not simply a reiteration of previous verses. The word "made" can be translated by 15 different Greek verbs. Let's look at this one.
"made" - kaqi,sthmi[kathistemi] = to set down, to set in order, or to appoint. In every case in the NT it refers to being appointed to a position of authority.
We showed several examples of the use of this word in this meaning in various passages on Friday. Of interest to our study is its use in 2Pe 1:8.
2Pe 1:1 Simon Peter, a bond-servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who have received a faith of the same kind as ours, by the righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ:
2Pe 1:2 Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord;
2Pe 1:3 seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence.
2Pe 1:4 For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, in order that by them you might become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust.
By the promises of God we become partners or in fellowship with [koinonos] the divine nature/new creature.
Then Peter goes on to write that because we are partners with a divine new nature for this very reason we are to supply some things.
2Pe 1:5 Now for this very reason also, applying all diligence [earnestness, zeal, haste], in your faith supply moral excellence [virtue], and in your moral excellence, knowledge;
The verb supply [epichoregeo] is an aorist active imperative meaning to supply or furnish. The active voice means that the believer supplies or furnishes these things. How do I supply virtue to my faith? You do it the same way you supply anything that is divine to your spiritual life. You combine faith in the word of God with the ministry of God the Holy Spirit by yielding to His will, guidance, leading, and empowerment.
Gal 3:5
Does He then, who provides you [epichoregeo] with the Spirit and works miracles among you, do it by the works of the Law, or by hearing with faith?
God supplies the believer with the word of God to hear with faith and the Spirit who works the miracles of transformation with that faith so that we can provide our spiritual lives with virtue, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly love, and agape love. God does all the work and we make the choices to appropriate that work in our lives. Therefore, we don’t have any merit or credit in the supplying, just the choice of the things of the Spirit over the things of the flesh.
2Pe 1:6 and in your knowledge, self-control, and in your self-control, perseverance, and in your perseverance, godliness [well devoted];
2Pe 1:7 and in your godliness, brotherly kindness [philadelphia], and in your brotherly kindness, love [agape].
This list is building one quality upon another.
It would seem that Peter is revealing to us that some virtues or fruit is foundational to other virtues or fruit.
I cannot attempt advanced virtues without possessing the primary ones, or I will be very disappointed. If I build one upon the other they make me reign in life and so in righteousness.
I cannot synthesize a complex molecule in the laboratory if I cannot synthesize the simplest molecule. Building one virtue upon another will render us, or appoint us to neither be useless or barren nor unfruitful.
2Pe 1:8
For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they render [kathistemi – promote you to a place where] you neither useless nor unfruitful in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
2Pe 1:8 For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they render you neither useless nor unfruitful in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Rom 5:19 For as through the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, even so through the obedience of the One the many will be made righteous.
We would expand verse 19, "through the obedience of the One the many are to be made rulers in righteousness in practical living by setting their minds on the things of the Spirit."
The same verb is used of Adam's disobedience. The many were made rulers in sin or ruled by sin and the opposite case is made of those in Christ who can now rule in righteousness. And just like verse 17 where we see not that life rules but the believer rules in life, here as well we see not that righteousness rules but the believer rules in righteousness. If righteousness ruled then free will would be gone. We are given the ability to rule in it.
It may take years of growth before we actually hunger and thirst after righteousness, but when we do we are assured by the Lord that we will be filled. We are not to accept the rulership of the flesh or sin nature.
Man is addicted to self-help. He is addicted to the idea that his own goodness is sufficient. He does not comprehend that God hates human righteousness.
If man had his way he would sit down on the throne of the universe and reign in his present state of human righteousness and sin. Man stands on the dung heap of human achievement, determined to go down to the lake of fire, fighting to vindicate his own worth.
Phi 3:8
I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish in order that I may gain Christ
The Holy Spirit leads us to consider the worth of the things given to us at salvation, which comprise our position. Looking at this constantly brings us back to the cross where we were crucified with Christ and then the resurrection where we were made alive with Christ. In this we are constantly reminded of our own worth with is only made up of filthy rags.
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.
The remnants of these rags and our love of them remain with us after we are saved and so we sometimes tend to cling to our own righteousness.
Often Christians forsake the things that make for overt, popular sins and continue to cling to the more subtle natural abilities of the flesh and human righteousness and ignorantly and blindly credit themselves with the exercise of divine righteousness. This is a most subtle temptation. The Holy Spirit uses the word of God to educate us on this subject so that we might not be fooled.
Theological teaching from many pulpits often do not set forth clearly our utter end in death with Christ at the cross.
The fatal result of not believing in our complete death with Christ is to leave the Mosaic Law as claimant over believers.
Rom 7:1 Or do you not know, brethren (for I am speaking to those who know the law), that the law has jurisdiction over a person as long as he lives?
Unless you are able to believe in your own heart that you died with Christ, that your old man was crucified with Him, and that you were buried, and that your history before God in the first Adam came to a complete and total end at Cavalry, you will never get free from the claims of Law upon your conscience.
Rom 7:4 Therefore, my brethren, you also were made to die to the Law through the body of Christ, that you might be joined to another, to Him who was raised from the dead, that we might bear fruit for God.
Christianity begins with resurrection.