Chapter # 6 Paragraph # 1 Study # 10
July 24, 2016
Humble, Texas
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Thesis: The root of life in Christ is counting on the facts to be true.
Introduction: As we have looked at the details of Paul's argument in Romans 6:1-11, we have seen that the overall point is that what we "believe" about what God has done for us directs our choices on a daily basis. We are not to pursue a life filled with sinful decisions and actions simply because such a pursuit is a direct contradiction to everything that God has said to us and done for us. This evening we are going to look into Paul's command that we embrace the facts that are declared to be true of us so that we may be motivated to live for The God.
- I. At Issue In "Reckoning" is the Nature of "Faith".
- A. Once Paul has laid out his facts, he insists that we "reckon" on them.
- 1. The term translated "reckon" is used in three specific ways.
- a. It is used when people are facing alternatives from which they must "choose" (Mark 11:31-32).
- b. It is further used when people have chosen which of the alternatives that they will embrace (Romans 3:28).
- c. It is then also used when people take the actions that are implicit in the embrace to which they have committed themselves (Romans 4:3).
- 2. The key "truth" is that we are "in Christ Jesus".
- a. This, most fundamentally, means that we have not only "died" to "The Sin", but we are also "justified" from it.
- 1) The separation is real.
- a) We possess The Promise: Eternal Life.
- b) We possess The Power: the Holy Spirit.
- 2) The decision by God is emphatic and irreversible: He has "imputed" all that Christ is and has done to us so much so that He refuses to "impute" any sins that proceed from our bodies to us.
- a) This does not mean that He ignores our behavior, or that He makes life work to our joy without regard for the choices we make or the actions we take.
- i. Joy is the outcome of faith in the true provisions of God.
- ii. Behavior that is sponsored by unbelief will produce the experience of corruption.
- b) But it does mean that He refuses to respond to us with "Justice"; instead, He responds in "wise grace".
- b. This also, most fundamentally, means that we have become participants in the Body of the Christ so that He does what He wills with us, to us, through us, and for us.
- 1) A most critical aspect of our being participants in the Body of The Christ is that we are individual elements in what He is doing in the world through this "Body" as those under a "Head": He does what He wills with us.
- 2) A second most critical aspect of this reality is that we do not control what we face in this world: He does what He wills to us.
- 3) A third most critical aspect of this reality is that we are individual participants in a Body that is designed to enable Christ to do what He wills in this world: He does what He wills through us.
- 4) And a fourth most critical issue is that God has already declared emphatically what steps God has already taken on our behalf: He does what He wills for us.
- c. None of these four issues are "negotiable".
- B. This "reckoning" is simply the exercise of "faith".
- 1. We look at the alternative claims.
- 2. We make our decisions.
- 3. We take our actions on the basis of the decisions.
- II. The Summons to "Faith" is Focused.
- A. We are, in fact, "dead indeed to The Sin".
- 1. 6:8 says "we died together with Christ" so that we now "believe" the new alternative.
- 2. 6:9 says "death rules as a lord no longer over those who have died".
- 3. 6:10 says "the one who died, died to The Sin once (for all)".
- B. We are, in fact, "living to The God in Christ Jesus".
- 1. 6:8 says "we believe that we shall also live together with Him".
- 2. 6:9 says "death no longer rules as a lord".
- 3. 6:10 says "he that lives, lives to The God".
- III. The Conclusion We Draw.
- A. "Faith" is a "must": the processes of "living" do not work without it.
- B. Even "disbelief" has been hamstrung at the most critical level of "eternal life".