Not Under Law but Under Grace

Romans 6:12-23, the Second Reading appointed for the 4th Sunday of Pentecost in the Year of Mark is a passage filled with celebration.  Principally the announcement is that we are no longer slaves of sin, for we are not "under the law but under grace."  What a marvelous announcement this is.  It will be the preacher's task to announce this with all the robustness one can muster.

(The following questions have been developed in order to unearth the answers to simple questions regarding how the Word is functioning, a principal concern of Law and Gospel preachers. For more information on this method, and Law and Gospel preaching in general, see my brief guide, Afflicting the Comfortable, Comforting the Afflicted, available at wipfandstock.com or amazon.)

1.  How does the Word function in the text?  In this text, the Word is functioning in all the ways it can.  It opens with a clear call to obedience in verses 12-13:  "Do not let sin exercise dominion...  No longer present your members to sin... present your members to God."  Then vs. 14 goes directly to the announcement of the Gospel:  "..you are not under law but  under grace."  Verses 15-16 are rhetorical questions leading us to the second announcement of the Gospel in verses 17-18: "[you] have become obedient from the heart... having been set free from sin, [you] have become slaves of righteousness." Verse 19 returns to the imperative form where we have another call to obedience.  Verses 20-21 are perhaps the strongest statements of Law in this text:  "The end of those things is death."  The final verses return to a statement of the Gospel, ending with the oft-quoted line, "The wages of sin is death but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."

2.  How is the Word not functioning in the text?  Even though there is a hint of Law in verses 20-21, this text does not include a call to repentance or a point at which the text functions to point out our need for a Savior.  That need is implicit in all that is said about "the wages of sin," but there is no direct call to flee from sin.

3.  With whom are you identifying in the text?  We are those to whom this is addressed.  We know all about sin having dominion over us and leading us into a death spiral.  We also know the joy of being freed from sin and given new life in Christ.

4.  What Law/Gospel couplet is suggested by this text?  The text provides all the vocabulary we need for couplets in this case:  death/life; bondage/freedom; law/grace.

5. Exegetical work:  It is interesting how writers, from ancient to modern, note the incompatibility of living in sin with life under the realm of grace.  Note what 4th century theologian, St. Chysostom has to say, "It is absurd for those who are being led toward the kingdom of God to have sin ruling over them or for those who are called to reign with Christ to choose to be captive to sin, as if one should throw down the crown from his head and choose to be the slave of a hysterical woman who comes begging and covered in rags." (Ancient Christian Commentary on Scriptures, NT, vol. VI, p. 163).  The Spanish theologian of the Reformation era, Juan de Valdes wrote this:  "Christians indeed abstain from things prohibited by the law, not because the law prohibits them, but because they are unsuitable to the man or woman who is dead to sin and alive to God."  (Reformation Commentary on Scriptures, NT, vol. VII, p. 341).  Ernst Kasemann, in his classic commentary, put it succinctly:  "With baptism a change of lordship has been effected."  (Commentary on Romans, p. 179).  Finally, Paul Achtemier, writing in the Interpretation series, said, "If, by freeing us from the domination of sin bequethed to us as heirs of Adam... baptism alters our past, it also alters our future."  "We are members of a new race, whose goal for the first time can be something other than rebellion against God and ensuing death." (Romans, p. 105).

6.  How does the Crossings Community model work with this text?  In 2014, Ron Starenko wrote an insightful analysis of this text called "Slaves, One Way or Another."  He talks about the realm under which we live, whether it is the realm of sin leading to death, or the realm of Christ leading to life.  The entire analysis may be seen archived under its reference at crossings.org/text-study.

Blessings on your proclamation!

Freedom not To Sin, but From Sin

Romans 6:1b-11 is the Second Reading for the Third Sunday in Pentecost in the Year of Mark.  This passage is the second in a long line of readings from Romans which will take us through much of the Pentecost season.  To understand these verses it is essential to look back at chapter 5, where in verse 20 we read, "but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more."  In other words, the act of obedience by Christ we see on the Cross is such that no matter how great the sin, grace covers it.  This is, of course, good news.  Romans 6 then asks the question, "Now what?"  It will be the preacher's task to take up this question.

(The following questions are part of a method developed for Law and Gospel preachers around one main issue:  how does the Word function in the text?  The contention is that the way the Word functions is the way the sermon built on this Word must function - at least in part.  For more on this method and on Law and Gospel preaching in general, see my brief guide, Afflicting the Comfortable, Comforting the Afflicted, available from wipfandstock.com or amazon.)

1.  How does the Word function in the text?  This text is largely Gospel. We are told we have been baptized into the death of Christ, buried with him, and raised with him to walk in newness of life.  We are also told that we will be united with Christ in a  resurrection like his, that we are no longer enslaved to sin, that death no longer has dominion over Christ or us, and that we shall live with Christ.  Certainly all this is good news.

2.  How is the Word not functioning in the text?  In a text that is so full of mention of sin and death, it seems strange to say that the Law is not present, but that seems to be the case.  There is clearly acknowledgement that sin and death are powerful and working to undermine the work of Christ, but there is no word that calls us to repentance.  The Word here is celebrating the end of the Law, which Paul will delve into more deeply later.

3.  With whom are you identifying in the text?  We are those who ask the rhetorical question that begins this text:  "Should we continue in sin in order that grace may abound?"  Or, as one young boy said to the preacher on the way out of church one Sunday, "Now I get it:  I like to sin, and God likes to forgive sin, so we're both happy!"  We are the ones Paul addresses here, showing us how we must regard ourselves.

4.  What, if any, call to obedience is there in this text?  The call to obedience here is in the last verse:  "So you must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus."  This is a classic call to obedience where we are invited to live in a certain way in response to God's work in Christ.  This is a command, an imperative, exhorting us to look upon ourselves anew.

5.  What Law/Gospel couplet is suggested by this text?  All of the language for couplets is available right within this text:  dead/alive; enslaved/free; buried/raised.

6.  Exegetical work:  Scholars down through the ages have acknowledged the ongoing struggle we all have with sin, even as baptized people of faith.  St. Chrysostom, 4th century theologian, wrote, "Paul says: Consider yourselves... because complete freedom from sin is not a reality as yet... We are told to live for God in Jesus Christ our Lord and to lay hold of every virtue, having Jesus as our ally in the struggle." (Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture, NT, vol. VI, p. 162).  Martin Luther quotes Augustine who said, "Until our body is raised to life, and death is swallowed up in victory, our evil desires will afflict us." (Luther's Works, vol. 25, p. 308f)  In a classic commentary, James G. Dunn, had this to say: "The very real dying of believers is a lifelong process: they do not sever all links and relationships with this world until the death of the body.  How can they?  But in the meantime they must let the death of Christ come to increasing effect in their own lives."  (Word series, Vol. 38A, Romans 1-8, p. 331).  Contemporary theologian, Michael Gorman, makes it clear that the dying and rising we experience in baptism have lifelong implications:  "...the language of dying and rising with Christ in baptism is Paul's way of saying two main things: first, that initiation into Christ is a 'death' to one way of existence and a 'resurrection' to a new way of life; and second, that this initiation is a participation in the story of Christ." (Preaching Romans; Four Perspectives, Scot McKnight and Joseph B. Modica, eds. p 71).  I like that; we now participate in the story of Jesus.

7.  How does the Crossings Community model work with this text?  Peter Keyel, writing an analysis in 2017, summed things up very nicely by showing how we go from thinking we are free to sin because of grace, to realizing we are free from sin because of grace.  It is a very simple, straightforward analysis, which can be found archived under the reference at crossings.org/text-study.

Blessings on your proclamation!