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THE APOSTLE OF THE RECONCILIATION
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The original question is now modified, and is presented in Romans 6:15 :
`What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace?'
The answer to the question is twofold. Here again the two parties, the Jew and the Gentile, must be kept in
mind. We must remember that the Gentile was never under the law, and consequently could never be delivered
from it. The Jew, however, was not only under the dominion of sin, but, added to that, was under the law as well,
and needed the twofold deliverance of which this section speaks. The answer of the apostle is divided into two
parts, in order that the peculiar position of Israel might be considered. All are involved in sin, as we have seen in the
`all' and the `many' of chapter 5, therefore the one deliverance, `dying with Christ', will be true of both Jew and
Gentile.
The first part of the answer to the question of Romans 6:15 is addressed to the Gentile. The figure used is that of
master and servant. The second part (Rom. 7:1-6) is addressed to the Jew, `I speak to them that know the law', and
the figure used is that of husband and wife. The question of sin, after salvation, is a question of service:
`... whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?' (Rom. 6:16).
`... ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that mould (tupos) of doctrine into which ye
were delivered' (Rom. 6:17 Author's translation).
`Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness' (Rom. 6:18).
The apostle repeats with further detail these sentiments, and concludes with the words which are so often quoted
as a gospel message to the unsaved:
`For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal (aionion) life through Jesus Christ our Lord' (Rom.
6:23).
These words are addressed to the believer:
`What fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed? for the END of those things is death' (Rom.
6:21).
This is placed in contrast with:
`But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the
END
everlasting (aionion) life' (Rom. 6:22).
It is evident that aionion life is here connected with Christian service. It is not `wages', for that word is
contrasted with `gracious gift', nevertheless, it is something to be distinguished from the faith which believes unto
salvation. The germ of Romans is found in Galatians, and in this particular Galatians 6:7,8 has much in common
with the present passage:
`Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth
to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the spirit shall of the spirit reap life
everlasting (aionion)'.
Here we observe that `sin' and `righteousness' give place to the parallel terms `flesh' and `spirit'. This is exactly
the situation in Romans 6 to 8. There we have under the heading of the flesh, `the old man', `the body of sin'.
In the second part of the reply the apostle turns to the Jew, and explains the position of the believer and the law.
Here we deal not with the dominion of sin, or death - this has been dealt with in Romans 6 - but with the dominion
of law. All men figure in Romans 6; Israel, `the many', figure in Romans 7, `the law has dominion over a man as
long as he liveth'. There is but one way in which the dominion of the law can be rightly removed, and that is, by
death. If a woman marries another man while her husband lives, she is constituted an adulteress; and, says the
apostle, I do not wish you to believe that the Christian faith can be likened to such immorality. The conscientious
scruples of the Jew with regard to the law are met by the death of Christ. Just as we `reckon ourselves dead indeed
unto sin', so, like the apostle, every believing Jew could say:
`... I through the law am dead to the LAW' (Gal. 2:19).