Chapter # 6 Paragraph # 3 Study # 1
August 28, 2016
Humble, Texas
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• I. The First Consideration.
  • A. Since the "Big Idea" of the entire chapter is the proper response of those who believe to the Grace of God, and since the major question in both 6:1 and 6:15 is pretty much the same question, we have to draw the conclusion that Paul (and God) was focused upon how a person's grasp of the issues of "grace" affect his/her attitude toward "committing sins".
  • B. The difference between 6:1 and 6:15 is that in 6:1 the backdrop was our former immersion in an identity that is totally wrapped up in Adam and "The Sin" which he committed and in 6:15 the backdrop is upon our total immersion in the character of the creation as it has been, is, and will forever be.
    • 1. In contrast to our former immersion in Adam, is our present immersion in Christ.
    • 2. But there is no "contrast" between the nature of creation in Time and in Eternity: it is the same.
      • a. There is no suspension in Eternity of the basic principle of Time that "hearing coupled to submission leads to obedience that leads to consequences".
      • b. This lack of "change" is Paul's basis for his appeal that "believers" "hear unto submission" in respect to their attitude toward "committing a sin".
  • C. The notion that one "should sin" is emphatically denied for an emphatic reason.
• II. The Second Consideration.
  • A. As noted, the second consideration is the nature of how God's creation has always worked, and will always work.
  • B. The declaration is that the underlying principle of creation forces a certain reality into play.
    • 1. The underlying principle is "hearing unto yielding unto presenting unto bondage unto result(s)".
      • a. Verse sixteen asks If "we know" some critical truth.
      • b. It then ties multiple factors together: "hearing unto yielding" followed by "presenting" followed by "slavery" followed by "a major result" (the order is not organized by the actual processes, but according to focus: presenting is the major issue).
    • 2. The "theology" of this underlying principle.
      • a. The actual "hearing unto yielding" is all about "presenting oneself to another as a slave".
        • 1) The problem of "slavery" in the context of "The Sin".
          • a) According to Hebrews 2:15, there is a very real "bondage" that is rooted in the "fear of death".
          • b) According to Ephesians 2:2, there is a very real "deadness" that is rooted in the trespasses and sins that are the product of "The Disbelief" promoted by an evil "spirit".
          • c) Thus we can conclude that the "deadness" of alienation from God is the actual working methodological definition of "bondage".
        • 2) The problem of "slavery" in the context of "Sin".
          • a) When it comes to "Sin", the problem of bondage is the inability to block the outcomes of sinful behavior.
          • b) Thus, slavery to outcomes is simply being unable to keep the disasters of the harvest at bay; the primary element being the absence of the Life of the God from which sinners are alienated [no one escapes pain, fear, and humiliation, but those who suffer them with God have a completely different experience than those who suffer them without Him].
      • b. The consequent "slavery" is both real and absolutely effective.
      • c. The outcomes are established by the consequent slavery.
        • 1) Slavery to "sin" brings about "death".
        • 2) Slavery to "hearing truth and yielding to it" brings about "righteousness".