Romans 5:21
While we are “...dead in our trespasses and sin” (Ephesians 2:1), we are also blind to the things of God. Paul explains this clearly to the Corinthians in the second chapter of his first letter: “The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they sound like foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them because they are spiritually discerned.” When Christ comes into our lives, being able to see what God sees begins. It is a slow process and directly related to the time we spend in God’s Word, in prayer conversation with Him and in fellowship with other believers. Little by little we will be amazed at how our thoughts and attitudes are changing. That’s why what we take into our minds is so important. God wants to make available to us the wisdom of Who He is and how He works, and He wants to share more than just the little inset with us. But our minds are not made to retain more than a certain amount of material. If our minds are filled with garbage, we will not be sensitive to the things of God. We become what our minds dwells upon.
Let’s do a quick review, because Chapter 6 begins a whole new section of teaching dealing with the life of the believer. God chose us and called us out of a world of darkness into His glorious light. There was nothing we did to provide for our salvation. It was a gift from God. What we do with the gift, however, is incredibly important. We can hold the gift in our laps and look at it and admire it, or we can open it up and enjoy the contents, which is the potential to become like Christ.
We are saved by grace. God’s grace is a direct result of God’s love. God is looking for a family and a bride for His Son. He is not looking for just anyone but for those who will make an eternal commitment of their lives to Him. He does not force His love on us but woos us with His love. In the same way that a husband and wife become one person in God’s sight, He asks us to become one person with Him. He brings us into His family as joint heirs with Christ, meaning that everything that belongs to Christ is equally ours as well. But to receive this from Him, He asks us to present our entire selves to Him as a living sacrifice and not conform to the ways of the world but to allow Him to transform us into His own likeness. “We can be mirrors that brightly reflect the glory of God, and as His Spirit works within us, we become more and more in every way like Him” (II Corinthians 3:18).
Now, in our text today Paul paints a picture of a great fortress that is torn down and of a new citadel that is built on the ruins of the old fort. Each of the great fortresses has a king who reigns from the fortress. The old citadel is ruled over by the king of sin, who is Satan. Satan is a despot. He does not ask his subjects to bow down before him; rather, he takes them by force. He demands allegiance by enticing people to partake of his wares, and then when they become addicted to the lifestyle he provides, the trap snaps shut on them, and they are caught in his iron vise. His is a death grip. Sin has a companion word, which is death. Sin and death are joined together like horse is joined to carriage. The result of enjoying the smorgasbord Satan provides is that we forfeit life. We hasten death with no hope of any reward in the life to come.
The person who lives in the citadel of sin is blinded to the truth. He thinks that when he stands before God someday, he will be able to talk his way into Heaven. People often say to me, “Put in a good word to the Man upstairs for me, will you?” It’s as if a good reference from someone on the earth will make a difference as to whether or not someone gets into Heaven. That is the blindness caused by living under the domination of Satan. But the truth is that there is no middle ground for half-good people. It’s all or nothing. We are either utterly condemned, or we are perfectly saved and safe in the grace provided by Christ. It is either salvation through the provision made for our sins by Christ, or it is the Lake of Fire without Him. God does not accept a halfway commitment. Nowhere in Scripture does God ask for a partial commitment. You are to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength (Mark 12:30). Anything less is a disgrace to the Christ who gave His life as a sacrifice for your sins. The very act of calling Him Lord means that you give Him your full allegiance.
What does God view as sin? Remember the story Christ told of the prodigal son? The son came to his father and said, “I want my share of the inheritance now instead of waiting until you die” (Luke 15:12). That is a great picture of sin. Sin is acting independently of God. It is selfishness. It is charting your own course and deciding to do what is “best” for yourself. What you choose may be good and noble, but the question is, “Are you acting in obedience to God your Creator, or are you doing what you think will promote your own welfare.
John said, “Stop loving this evil world and all that it offers you, for when you love these things, you show that you do not really love God; for all these worldly things, like the things craved by our bodies and the desire to have the best of everything or the need to be known and to work our way up the ladder of success…these things are not from God” (I John 2:15, 16). God looks at these things as sin. They are the things that Satan uses to keep us in his trap. They are addictive. Once you start down that road, you are helpless in yourself to turn away.
There is an old legend about a blood sucking vampire with wings that perched on top of a sleeping man. As he beat his wings, he lulled the man into unconsciousness, all the while sucking the lifeblood out of him. It’s an ugly picture but an accurate picture all the same of what Satan his been doing to man since the beginning of time. He comes as an angel of light and blinds man from seeing the consequences of his actions. As I was writing this, someone came into my office and told me about a wonderful young couple who have gotten lulled back into the world of drugs. The lure is that of escape and money and highs and the thought that “...we will only do it a couple of times and then quit. It’s just a temporary fix until we get out of debt.” The reality is that it will eventually put them back in prison, their children will be taken from them and lose trust and respect for them; it will mean deteriorating health and another arduous road back to recovery after they have paid their debt to society. But they were blinded to the consequences by the momentary thought of escape and pleasure.
Satan reigns from the citadel of sin. We are at his mercy unless we give our allegiance to a more powerful King. But let me remind you again that kings do not accept partial allegiance. They ask for a complete commitment of our lives. Our text says, “As sin has reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” I want you to notice that it doesn’t say, “As sin has reigned unto death, even so might righteousness reign unto life.” If it had said that, we would be under the illusion that if we could clean up our act, we would triumph over sin and death. But try as we might, we do not have the power to stand up against Satan and the legions of devils he has at his disposal. Only the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ can “...break the power of canceled sin and set the prisoner free.” It is only when He is in control of our lives that we can rest in His protection over us. It is when He is able to invade every nook and cranny of our lives that we finally are able to enjoy the freedom of a victorious life in Christ.
There is a wonderful word picture painted by Paul in the second chapter of Ephesians. Let me share it with you from the paraphrase:
Once you were under God’s curse, doomed forever for your sins. You went
along with the crowd and were just like all the others, full of sin, obeying
Satan, the mighty prince of the power of the air, who is at work in the hearts
of those who are against the Lord. All of us used to be just as they are, our
lives expressing the evil within us, doing every wicked thing that our passions
or our evil thoughts might lead us into. We started out bad, being born with
evil natures, and were under God’s anger like everyone else. But God is so
rich in mercy; He loved us so much that even though we were spiritually dead
and doomed by our sins, He gave us back our lives again when He raised Christ from the dead—only by His undeserved favor have we ever been saved—and lifted us up from grace into glory along with Christ, where we sit with Him in
the heavenly realms—all because of what Christ Jesus did for us. And now He
can always point to us as examples of how very, very rich His kindness is, as shown in all He has done for us through Jesus Christ (Ephesians 2:1-7).
Before we close today, I want you to notice the gifts these two kings give to their subjects… “sin ruled over men and brought them death”… “but grace reigns through righteousness and brings eternal life.” In other words, sin reigns from a cemetery, and all her subjects are dead. But grace rules from the heavenlies, where we are seated with Christ and are given eternal life.
The gift of life is given through Christ. Paul talks to the Colossians about our lives being “hidden in Christ” (Colossians 3:3). Everything that goes with the new life comes to us from Christ. All of the benefits will be in direct proportion to our relationship with Him. Paul told the Romans that “...everything comes from God alone. Everything lives by His power, and everything is for His glory” (Romans 11:36). And to the Corinthians he said, “There is only one God and Father Who created all things and made us to be His own, and there is only one Jesus Christ Who made everything and gives us life” (I Corinthians 8:6).
If you have given your life to Christ, you will get out of your relationship exactly what you put into it. God wants to give to you out of the riches of Heaven. He wants to give you gifts that are eternal in nature…gifts that cannot be tarnished by earthly decay or deterioration. He wants to reproduce Himself in you. He wants to give you love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness and self-control. But those are gifts that come from going deep down into the relationship He wants to have with you. Are you drinking deeply? Or are you holding the gift lightly? Are you getting the most from your relationship to the Kings of Kings and Lord of Lords? Are you reigning with Him?
-QUESTIONS-
1. What are some of the things that people in the world of sin cannot see? Why are they blind to these things? Read again I Corinthians 2:9-16. What is the very last sentence?
2. Have you seen a change in how you view life and the purpose of life since you became a Christian? How have your thoughts and attitudes changed?
3. Put some meaning on the picture of someone holding lightly the gift of life from God. Why don’t they unwrap it and use it? What is meant by the statement, “You get out of your Christian life exactly what you put into it...”? Doesn’t God pour out everything to us regardless of what we do? How does the parable of the talents in Matthew 25:14 ff. apply to this question?
4. In what ways are people captives of Satan? Can’t they get free if they want? What are the things John talks about in I John 2:15, 16? What do they relate to in modern times?
5. Do you agree with the statement, “It is all or nothing. We are either utterly condemned, or we’re perfectly saved and safe in the grace provided by Christ. It is either salvation through the provision made for our sins by Christ, or it is the Lake of Fire without Him. God does not accept a partial commitment...”?
6. What is sin?
7. What can I do to get the most out of what God has to offer through my salvation? Is this something I have to beg God to receive? What does relationship have to do with receiving anything from God?