 |  |
#47.
Law and grace (6: 15-23).
pp. 104 - 108
The subject now before us is so vital that no pains must be spared to see it in as clear a
light as possible. Before going further, therefore, with the theme of Rom. 6:, let us
again step back and survey the whole inner section:--
Romans 5: 12 - 8: 39.
A |
5: 12-21. The law of sin and death in Adam.
B
| 6: 1-14. The relation of justification and sin. Dead to it.
B
| 6: 15 - 7: 25. The relation of justification and law. Dead to it.
A |
8: 1-39. The law of the spirit of life in Christ.
The main line of the teaching is found in the first and last sections (A, A); in the
first section the law of sin and death, leading up to condemnation, with the glorious
interposition by God of the gift of His Son--"because of the weakness of the flesh" and,
in the second section, the law of the spirit of life, leading up to: "No condemnation to
them which are in Christ Jesus." The intervening chapters (6: and 7:) reveal the utter
powerlessness of any act of the old man, either by the law or in the flesh, to accomplish
this emancipation. In both cases, the only answer is death: "death to sin" and "dead to
the law", or, if the service of sin be persisted in, death as its "end" and its "wages".
In the section of Rom. 6: now before us, we are dealing with the question of the law.
In the preceding articles we have shown how the apostle has divided his argument into
two parts, speaking after the manner of men to the Gentiles, and after the manner of the
law to the Jews. We now consider the first of these two parts, the argument based upon
slavery addressed particularly to the Gentile, to whom the obligations of slavery, the
character of its service, its fruits and wages, were all matters of everyday knowledge.
We must first see the passage as a whole:--