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'We ought to walk as He walked'. 1 John 1:7 speaks of walking in the light.
This is how the Lord Jesus always walked whilst here on earth.
In the very presence of God, in the light of the holiest
of all; what a standing! what an assurance! No creature preparation or
perfectness can avail there; any attempt at such only shows the failure to
appreciate the heights of holiness demanded by that light. What is our
warrant for daring to walk in this light?
'As He is we are'. Is this 'sinless perfection'? No! If we say we
have no sin we deceive ourselves. If we say we have not sinned we make God a
liar. It is not by covering up our sins, neither is it by imagining
ourselves to have become sinless that we draw near to the presence of the
Lord. No; it is by reason of the wondrous grace that has made us 'accepted
in the Beloved', that has 'made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of
the saints in light'. With all our imperfections still upon us, with all our
sins of omission and commission, we may draw near, to walk in the light. By
this, do we make little of sin? No! God does not, but He has made
provision. It is not our walk or talk that will ever keep us fit for His
holy Presence, but 'if we walk in the light ... the Blood of Jesus Christ His
Son cleanseth us from all sin'.
Such is some small fragment of the teaching of these verses. Let us
glorify God by believing His Word, and, seeing that by His grace we are (in
Christ) as He is, and that as He is we shall be, let us seek by grace to walk
as He walked, to walk in the light, to thankfully confess the glorious
efficacy of the blood that cleanseth, and to exemplify in some measure the
complete sanctification which is ours in Christ Jesus. While we think of the
epistle to the Romans when we think of justification, we find that Romans
6:1-14 deals with sanctification under various aspects.
(1)
A sphere. It is newness of life.
(2)
A condition. It is a union.
(3)
A state. Liberty.
(4)
How it is apprehended, by reckoning.
(5)
It is entirely under grace.
The true sequel of Romans 5:12-21 is Romans 8, where the condemnation
brought in by Adam is entirely removed from all who are 'in Christ Jesus'.
The Spirit of God, however, knew the heart of man; and how easily even
believers may misread liberty for licence, or abuse the overwhelming grace of
God. Already the spirit that necessitates Romans 6 and 7 has shown itself.
For in Romans 3:7 we have the beginnings of the idea opened up in Romans 6,
where the thought that 'the truth of God hath more abounded through my lie
unto His glory' is echoed by the question: 'What shall we say then? Shall we
continue in sin that grace may abound?'
It is not a question of shall I ever fall into sin, or shall I never
discover hidden uncleanness, but shall I 'continue in' sin. Epimeno is used
in Romans 11:22,23, where it is used of 'continuing in His goodness', and of
'abiding still in unbelief'. In Romans 6:2 the balancing clause to
'continuing in' is 'living in':
'How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?'
Let us notice for our good that the apostle does not temporize with
this question. He does not embark upon a lengthy discourse concerning grace;
he does not attempt to mitigate the fulness of superabounding grace; he goes