Chapter # 6 Paragraph # 3 Study # 2
October 17, 2006
Lincolnton, N.C.
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Thesis: We have the power to do what is right.
Introduction: In our study last week we saw that Paul's first exhortation in chapter six has to do with making a fundamental truth-decision about what is actually true in regard to our present "condition". He says we are to "reckon" ourselves to be dead to sin and alive to God. This is a "faith" decision rooted in the actual declaration of truth by God, and it is a decision that will have a host of opponents in our material world. But, we are called upon to "reckon" that we are, in deed, dead to sin and alive to God.
However, this is not the whole truth. It is the foundational truth. There is more to it than simply "reckoning" upon a divinely given truth. This is obvious in that Paul still has more to write. So, this evening we are going to look further into his exhortations to see what needs to be "added" to the "reckoning."
- I. The Second Exhortation.
- A. A summons to determine who/what is going to be "king" in our bodies.
- 1. The summons to "refrain from permitting The Sin to reign" is all about "king-thinking."
- a. When engaging in "king-thinking" there are two basic domains.
- 1) There is the "bureaucrat" domain which consists of a cadre of "under-kings" who actually carry out the commands of the king in lieu of his omnipresence [Note the list as it showed up in Babylon in Daniel 3:3].
- 2) And there is the "general populace" domain which consists of all those who are directed into the king's plans.
- b. When engaging in "king-thinking" regarding our own living, we must understand these domains.
- 1) The "body" and its "members" are the "bureaucrat domain."
- a) Without this domain, the "king" has no instrument to carry out his plans.
- b) By this domain, the "king" imposes his impact upon all else.
- 2) The "external world" is the "general populace" domain and it includes everything that is affected by the actions of the body in this cause/effect universe.
- 2. The summons about "king-thinking" has a very fundamental element in it: "I" am not the "king".
- a. The issues here get a little "foggy" for the cause that we often think that the one who determines who is to be king is really the king.
- b. But the fog clears when we understand that the "king-maker" has little power of its own other than making the determination of who/what is to be the king.
- c. The analogy that Paul himself falls back upon is that of the woman: she does, indeed, carry about within her own body the "egg" that will be used to produce the "fruit of her womb", but she has no power to produce that fruit except to decide who will provide the sperm.
- B. A summons to be very clear about this issue of "kingship".
- 1. The issue is "whose desires will be permitted to dominate"?
- a. The language as it is translated into English leaves some ambiguity because it does not nail down exactly whence the "desires" are.
- 1) The exhortation is that "The Sin" should not be allowed to be "the king."
- 2) That would imply that "The Sin" is creating the "desires."
- b. Paul's Greek is clear: the "desires" arise out of the "mortal" body.
- 1) "The Sin" is feminine.
- 2) "The mortal body" is neuter.
- 3) "Its" is either masculine or neuter: in this case it modifies the neuter "body".
- c. But, it is "The Sin" that attempts to capitalize upon the appetites of the "body" because the agenda of "The Sin" is for the "person" who is a believer to be neutralized in the production of the "fruit of the Spirit" through the body.
- d. The body is called "mortal" because it has been "subjected" to "The Sin" and, by that to "The Death," and that "subjection" has not been removed: the body remains unredeemed until the resurrection.
- 1) This means that the body is a fundamental instrument of "The Sin."
- 2) But, there is another "body-King" dwelling in the body that, though it has not been "redeemed", has been "invaded."
- 3) This other "body-King" is God Himself.
- II. The Third Exhortation.
- A. This exhortation rides the coat-tails of the prior one.
- B. This exhortation has to do with the actual "presentation" of the body to its "king".
- 1. The focus is upon the "members" rather than the "body" as a whole.
- 2. The reason for the focus is that the body as a whole is seldom the issue; it is typically a specific member that is surfacing as dominant in its "demands."
- C. This exhortation depends upon the "reckoning" of 6:11: to present the body to "The God" as "King of the Body" requires that the "presenter" sees him/herself as "living from the dead."
- III. The Rationale.
- A. Paul's argument is that "Sin" shall not be "lord".
- B. This is predicated upon the fact that "Law" has been replaced by "Grace."
- 1. "Grace" means that the divine power of God is sufficiently available to snuff out the fires of evil desire and generate the fires of right desires.
- 2. "Law" means that there is no divine power and there is divine condemnation for failure.
- 3. The replacement is all in the attitude of the "king-maker."
- a. No one willingly turns his body over to an "enemy" except by intimidation.
- b. God is not interested in bodies that run on intimidation.
- c. Thus, God has eliminated the "intimidation" factor: no one redeemed by Him has any thing to fear from His "wrath."
