I have defined grace as “God’s unmerited favor,” and have said that it is “God’s favor to those who actually deserve the opposite.” There was nothing remarkable in those definitions. Thousands of Bible teachers have said the same thing, even in those identical words. But I have come to a new section of these studies, and it is important now to expand that initial definition.
We are freed from sin's bondage. Before we died to sin and were made alive to God, we were slaves of our sinful natures. Sin was ruining us. But even when we could see that clearly and acknowledge it, which was not often, we were still unable to do anything about it. We said, “I’ve got to stop drinking; it's killing me.” Or, “I am going to ruin my reputation if I don't stop these sexual indulgences.” Or, “I’ve got to get control of my temper,” or “I must curb my spending,” or whatever. But we were unable to do it. And even if we did get control of some important area of our lives, perhaps with the help of a good therapist or friends or a supportive family, the general downward drift was unchanged. We really were non posse non peccare (“not able not to sin”), as Saint Augustine described it.
So what does that mean? What should I do in light of this teaching? Paul's answer is in verse 11. “In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.” This is an imperative, of course. It is a command to do something. So let me begin by asking: How many times in Romans up to this point has Paul urged his readers to do something? That is, how many exhortations have there been? More than ten? Thirty? Less than five? The answer is that there have been none at all. This is the first time in five and a half chapters that the apostle has urged his readers to do anything. What are they to do? The verb is “count” (or “reckon,” as some of the other versions have it); in Greek it is logizomai, and it had two main uses:
In yesterday devotional we looked at three mistaken ideas for the meaning of “dying to sin.” Today we begin by looking at two others.
The Christian cannot continue in sin because he has renounced it. This view carries no less weighty a name in its favor than that of Charles Hodge, a former great theology professor at Princeton Theological Seminary. Hodge notes the full aorist tense of the verb “died,” observing rightly that it refers to a specific act in our past history, and he sees that act as our renunciation of sin in order to follow Christ. This is a good interpretation for two reasons:
Yesterday we looked at the first reason why the idea that God’s grace should lead to sin is irrational and unthinkable. The second reason why the antinomian objection is unthinkable is because it overlooks God's means of saving sinners. Earlier we looked at the grace of God in our justification. Justification is the act by which God declares a person to be in a right standing before his justice due to the death of Jesus Christ. This is a wonderful truth, but it is not all that is involved. God justifies, but Jesus also redeems. God forgives, but the Holy Spirit also makes us spiritually alive so that we can perceive and embrace that wonderful forgiveness.
