The Walk with the Ruach
8: 1-8

The walk with the Ruach DIG: List the various names for the Ruach? What ministries does the Ruach Ha’Kodesh perform in us, through us, and for us? What are the differences of a person who lives according to the [sin nature], and one who lives according to the Ruach Ha’Kodesh? How does the Ruach’s presence and ministry change our very nature?

REFLECT: What truths here can help you handle feelings of conflict and unworthiness? How do you feel about being judged not guilty? What does it mean to you that you are not God’s slave, but also God’s child? Do you feel like you are serving God out of a sense of love, or a set of rules? How do you know whether you are walking according to the flesh or the Ruach?

Walk according to the Ruach, and you will not carry out the desires of the old [sin nature].

Two questions from the previous section (to see link click Cb – The Inner Conflict) naturally arise. First, “Must a believer spend his whole life on earth frustrated by ongoing defeats to the old [sin nature]? And secondly, “Is there no power provided to achieve victory?” The answer to the first question is “No” and to the second question “Yes.” Here, in Chapter 8, Paul describes the ministry of the indwelling Ruach Ha’Kodesh who is a Person, the third member of the Trinity, equal in every way to God the Father and God the Son, the source of divine power for sanctification (being set apart for the holy use and purposes of God), and the secret for spiritual victory in daily living.²⁰⁰

Among the many characteristics of the Ruach are: He functions with mind, will, and emotion, and corrects them; He can be grieved, quenched, lied to, tested, resisted, and blasphemed. He is called God, Lord, the Ruach of YHVH, the Ruach of ADONAI, the Ruach of the Father, the Ruach of the Son, the Ruach of Yeshua, and the Comforter and Advocate for believers. Since Shavu’ot (see the commentary on Acts An – Peter Speaks to the Shavu’ot Crowd), the Ruach Ha’Kodesh has indwelt all believers, illuminating our understanding and application of God’s Word. He fills us, seals us, communes with us, fellowships with us, intercedes with us, comforts us, rebukes us, sanctifies us and enables us to resist sin and to serve God.²⁰¹

Therefore: By simple definition, therefore introduces a result, consequence, or conclusion based on what has been established previously. This therefore sums up the first seven chapters of Romans and means: Because of who Yeshua is and everything He has done in history on behalf of sinners.

Therefore, there is no longer any condemnation awaiting those who are in union with the Messiah Yeshua (8:1). We have accepted the remedy of YHVH. To be in union with a perfect God, you have to be perfect yourself. And the only way to do that is to believe in Yeshua Messiah and have all His perfect righteousness transferred (imputed) to your spiritual bank account. Like death, a parallel term (5:16 and 17, 5:18 and 21, and 8:1 and 6), condemnation indicates a state of being lost, being estranged from God that, apart from our Lord, every person will experience for all eternity. However, those who are in union with the Messiah are removed from this state – and removed from it forever (see the commentary on The Life of Christ Ms – The Eternal Security of the Believer) because we are in Him, where all condemnation ends.²⁰² He is the sphere of safety for all who are identified with Him by faith.

Why? In spite of the reality of our [sin nature], Messiah has already paid the price of redemption. Therefore, we can be confident. Because the Torah of the Ruach, which is our blueprint for living, produces [blessing] in union with Messiah Yeshua, has set me free from “the torah” of sin and death (8:2). What are these two? First, here is the wrong answer: Yeshua gave a good Torah of the Spirit which produces life, in contrast with the bad Mosaic Law that produces only sin and death. This interpretation not only contradicts Paul’s arguments in Chapters 3 and 7, but is subtly antisemitic as well.

The right answer is that the Torah of the Ruach is the Torah of Moshe properly understood by the power of the Ruach Ha’Kodesh in believers, what Paul elsewhere calls the Torah’s true meaning, which the Messiah upholds (Galatians 6:2) usually rendered the law of Christ in non-Messianic bibles. The second “torah” written as “the torah” of sin and death is in lowercase and put in quotation marks, because it is “sin’s torah,” in other words, not a God-given Torah, but an anti-Torah. Within me, I see a stubborn “torah,” one that battles with the Torah of Moshe in my mind and makes me a prisoner of my old [sin nature] which is operating within me (7:23). “The torah” of sin and death is the Torah of Moshe corrupted and perverted by our [sin nature] into a legalistic system of earning God’s approval by our own works (3:20).

So, 8:2 can be paraphrased as follows: The Torah of Moshe, as understood and applied through the Ruach, thereby producing blessing in union with Messiah Yeshua, has set me free from the legalistic aspects of “sin’s torah” that stimulate me to sin (see Bz – Application to Believers in Yeshua), fill me with lasting conflict (see Cb – The Inner Conflict), and condemn me to death.²⁰³

For the sake of illustration, let’s consider our old [sin nature] like the law of gravity, and sin, like gravity, will continue to pull us down. And “the torah” of death likened to be the consequences of the law of gravity, or death, for the wages of your [sin nature] is death (6:23a). We can fly in an airplane only because it has a power greater than the pull of gravity. If you don’t believe that the law of gravity is still in effect, try cutting the engine and see how long it takes before you crash and die. Can you imagine trying to “fly” (living the righteous life of a believer) in your old [sin nature]? Living in the flesh, will only pull you down. The only way you can overcome any law is by another law that is greater.²⁰⁴

For what the Torah could not do by itself (summarizing all of Chapter 7), because it lacked the power to make the old [sin nature] cooperate, God did by sending His own Son as a human being with a nature like our own sinful one [but without sin]. This verse is perhaps the best and most brief statement of the substitutionary atonement to be found in Scripture. It expresses the heart of the Good News, the wonderful truth that Yeshua Messiah paid the penalty on behalf of every person who would turn from sin and self, and trust Him as Lord and Savior.²⁰⁵ God [sent His own Son] as a sin offering (Isaiah 53:4-8), and in so doing he executed the punishment against sin in human nature, so that the just requirement of the Torah that sin against a perfectly holy God must be punished by death might be fulfilled in us who do not run our lives according to what our old [sin nature] wants but according to what the Ruach wants (8:3-4). ADONAI does not free us from our sin in order for us to do as we please, but to do as He pleases. And this is not merely just another form of legalism. Once we are saved; we have a new divine nature that is attuned to God’s will. As we live by the power of the Ruach Ha’Kodesh, God’s desire is our desire. We are not forced to do anything.

But because we still live in sinful bodies, clothed in the old [sin nature] as it were, we sometimes resist the will of God. To put it simply, we have a choice to make because we have both nature’s living within us: For those who identify with their old [sin nature] set their minds on the things of the old [sin nature], but those who identify with the Ruach set their minds on the things of the Ruach. But unbelievers don’t have a choice because they only have the old [sin nature] to guide them. Having one’s mind controlled by the old [sin nature] is death. That is why no self-help measures, psychotherapeutic methods, educational programs, environmental changes or resolutions to improve can enable us to please YHVH. But having one’s mind controlled by the Ruach is life, blessing, and shalom (8:5-6).

For the mind controlled by the old [sin nature] is hostile to God, because it does not submit itself to God’s Torah – indeed, it cannot. Thus, those who identify with their old [sin nature] cannot please God. They pursue the passing pleasures of this world (First John 2:16-17), and are characterized by a carnal mind that cannot please God (8:7-8). Their wicked heart reveals itself in ungodly behavior. And it is perfectly evident what the old [sin nature] does. It expresses itself in sexual immorality, impurity and indecency; involvement with the occult and with drugs; in feuding, fighting, becoming jealous and getting angry; in selfish ambition, factionalism, intrigue and envy; in drunkenness, orgies and things like these. Paul warns: Those who do such things will have no share in the Kingdom of God (Galatians 5:19-21)!²⁰⁶

One may ask, “How do you know whether you are walking according to the flesh or the Ruach? It is perfectly evident what the old [sin nature] does. It expresses itself in sexual immorality, impurity and indecency; involvement with the occult and with drugs in feuding, fighting, becoming jealous and getting angry; in selfish ambition, factionalism, intrigue and envy; in drunkenness, orgies and things like these (Galatians 5:19). But the fruit of the Ruach is love, joy, peace, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, humility, and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23). To determine if you are walking according to the flesh or the Ruach, examine what’s radiating out of your life. Though we are in Messiah Yeshua, we can still choose to operate according to the old [sin nature]. If we walk according to the Ruach, we will not carry out the desires of the [sin nature] (see the commentary on Galatians Bv – Walk by the Ruach and Not the Desires of the Flesh).

Dear Heavenly Father, I thank You for sending Your Son to take my place on the cross. I choose to believe the truth that there is no longer any condemnation awaiting those who are in union with the Messiah Yeshua. I thank You for disciplining me as Your child so I may bear the fruit of righteousness. I believe the truth, There is no fear in love. On the contrary, love that has achieved its goal gets rid of fear, because fear has to do with punishment (First John 4:18a). I know that You are not punishing me when You discipline me, because You love me. I renounce the lies of Satan that I am still subject to “the torah” of sin and death.” I accept my responsibility to walk in the light, and I ask You to show me the times I have chosen to walk according to the flesh. I confess these times to You, and I thank You for Your forgiveness and cleansing. I now ask You to fill me with Your Ruach that I may walk according to the Ruach. In Yeshua’s precious name I pray. Amen ²⁰⁷

The Victory in the Ruach Ha’Kodesh
8: 1-17

This chapter crowns the first half of the book of Romans, resolving the issue of the inner conflict raised in Chapter 7, and solving humanity’s overriding problem, sin. The answer is the Ruach Ha’Kodesh, who lives within us if we are in union with Messiah Yeshua.

The great triumph of our faith is total deliverance from condemnation. If we are honest with ourselves, we know that we have much to be condemned for. But the truth of the Good News is that Yeshua Messiah has released us from condemnation. All the righteousness of Messiah has already been transferred to our spiritual bank account at salvation, which enables us to live according to the law of the Spirit, which is the law of YHVH.

We are not only forgiven, but we have received the Ruach Ha’Kodesh into our very bodies, the Counselor, to lead us and guide us into all truth (see the commentary on The Life of Christ, to see link click Kr – The Holy Spirit Will Teach You All Things). He is our source of divine power to bring about our necessary sanctification, to be set apart for the holy purposes of ADONAI. Paul speaks of our bodies as God’s temple. Or don’t you know that your body is a temple for the Ruach Ha’Kodesh who lives inside you, whom you received from God? The fact is, you don’t belong to yourselves; for you were bought at a price. So, use your bodies to glorify God (First Corinthians 6:19-20).¹⁹⁸

The Ruach-filled life does not come through mystical or ecstatic experiences, but from studying and submitting oneself to Scripture. As you faithfully and submissively saturate your mind and heart with God’s truth, your Ruach-controlled behavior will follow as surely as the night follows the day. When you are filled with God’s truth, and led by God’s Ruach, even your involuntary reactions will be godly without even thinking about it.¹⁹⁹

Romans 8 is where Paul gathers various strands of thought, starting with the Good News in Chapter 1 (see Ai – The Righteous Shall Live by Faith), and links justification (see Ax – The Universal Solution: Justification) with sanctification.

The Results of the Inner Conflict
7: 22-25

The results of the inner conflict DIG: What are some of the differences between our old [sin nature] and our new divine nature? How is the Torah able to show us our sin? What does Paul mean when he says, “I am a slave of God’s Torah with my mind; but on the other hand, I am a slave of sin’s law with my old [sin nature]” (7:25).

REFLECT: Keeping a set of rules will not make your relationship with the Lord any closer. What effect does legalism have on believers today? How can we be delivered from legalism? Why is it impossible to obey a set of rules and live a good life? What is the secret of doing good? Why? What is the role of the Ruach Ha’Kodesh today in our sanctification?

It was only through faith in Yeshua Messiah that Paul could resolve his inner conflict.

Paul says that it was impossible for him to obey God’s Torah because he had a [sinful nature] that was rebellious. For in my inner self, I delight with God’s Torah (Romans 7:22; Psalm 1:1-3 and 119); but within me, I see a stubborn “torah,” one that battles with the Torah in my mind and makes me a prisoner of sin’s “torah,” “law,” or “principle,” which is operating within me (7:23). The indwelling old [sin nature] is constantly mounting a military campaign against the new divine nature, trying to gain victory and control because it has the capacity for perceiving and making moral judgments. Further, despite the believer’s identification with Yeshua Messiah’s death and resurrection, and his efforts to have Messiah-honoring attitudes and actions, he cannot, in his own power, resist the indwelling [sin nature]. In and of himself, he repeatedly experiences defeat and frustration.¹⁹³

It is not that Paul’s salvation was imperfect or in any way deficient. From the moment the believer receives Yeshua Messiah as Lord and Savior, he is completely accepted by YHVH and ready to meet Him. But as long as he remains in his mortal body, in his old [sin nature], he remains subject to temptation and sin. For although we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh, for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses (Second Corinthians 10:3-4). In other words, although a believer cannot avoid living in the flesh, he can, and should, avoid walking according to the flesh in its sinful ways.¹⁹⁴

In a wail of anguish, Paul cries out in utter frustration: What a miserable creature I am! Who will rescue me from this inner conflict, this body bound for death (7:24)? Judaism stresses that the individual is responsible and able to defeat the yetzer ha’ra, or the “evil inclination,” with the yetzer ha’tov, or the “good inclination,” by obeying the Torah. But Paul adds that it is impossible unless we stop trying to overcome our own [sin nature] by our own strength, and accept God’s lifeline through Messiah.¹⁹⁵

Many believers can relate to what Paul is saying in these verses. We too get frustrated with ourselves. We desperately want to be good, but we can’t be. We intensely want to do good, but we can’t. Our hearts hurt. Our minds hurt. Even our bodies hurt because of our own sin. We should find consolation in knowing that even Paul, who wrote most of the B’rit Chadashah, was in the same exact position as we are. He was riddled with his own sin.¹⁹⁶

Paul’s answer to his own question: Who will rescue me from this body bound for death? was immediate. Thanks be to God [He will] rescue me from my sin-controlled, death-bound body! How will He? Through Yeshua the Messiah, our Lord! Just as believers are identified with Him in His death and resurrection by faith here and now, so they will join their resurrected and exalted Lord for all eternity in new bodies, free forever from the presence of sin. But we are citizens in heaven, and it is from there that we expect a Deliverer, the Lord Yeshua the Messiah. He will change bodies we have in this humble state and make them like his glorious body, using the power which enables Him to bring everything under his control (Philippians 3:20-21). Frustrating and painful as our present struggle with sin may be, that temporary earthly predicament is nothing compared with the eternal glory that awaits us in heaven. Later in his letter to the believers in Rome, Paul testifies: I don’t think the sufferings we are going through now are even worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed to us in the future (8:18).

Because we have a taste of the righteousness of ADONAI and glory while we are still on earth, our longing for heaven is even stronger: We ourselves, says Paul, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we continue waiting eagerly to be adopted as His children – that is, to have our whole bodies redeemed and set free (8:23). On that great day, even our corruptible bodies will be redeemed and made incorruptible. It will take but a moment, Paul reassures us, in the blink of an eye, the dead will be raised to live forever, and we too will be changed. For this material [body] which can decay must be clothed with imperishability, this [body] which is mortal must be clothed with immortality . . . the sting of death is sin; and sin draws its power from the Torah; but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Yeshua the Messiah (First Corinthians 15:52-53 and 56-57).¹⁹⁷

Meanwhile, in this life, Paul concluded: On the one hand, I am a slave of God’s Torah with my mind; but on the other hand, I am a slave of sin’s law with my old [sin nature] (7:25). While awaiting freedom from the presence of sin, believers still face an inner conflict between their new divine nature and their old [sin nature]. But the best is yet to come! Romans 8 explains the work of the Ruach Ha’Kodesh in our life-long process of sanctification, being set apart for the holy purposes of God.

Dear Holy Heavenly Father, You are Awesome and I desire to please You in all I do, say and think. Some of my family and friends claim to follow You, yet they ignore blatant continual sin in their lives. Please soften their hearts so that they do not ignore sin but rather they will be repulsed by their selfish sin for sin offends you God. You always want the very best for each of Your children and You will give rewards to Your children when they get to heaven, but when they have a sinful attitude while doing a good deed, they forfeit their reward for that deed. Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each one’s work will become clear. For the Day will show it, because it is to be revealed by fire; and the fire itself will test each one’s work – what sort it is. If anyone’s work built on the foundation (which is Yeshua the Messiah) survives, he will receive a reward. If anyone’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss – he himself will be saved, but as through fire (First Corinthians 3:11-15).

They may not even be Your child, for You say that those who are Your children cannot live in sin, for you said that Your Ruach Ha’Kodesh will convict Your child who is sinning, and Your child will listen. No one born of God practices sin, because God’s seed remains in him. He cannot sin, because he is born of God (First John 3:9). I desire to listen carefully and obey the Ruach Ha’Kodesh whom You give to all who love You. I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper so He may be with you forever –  the Spirit of truth . . . You know Him, because He abides with you and will be in you. But the Helper, the Ruach ha-Kodesh whom the Father will send in My name, will teach you everything and remind you of everything that I said to you. (John 14:16-17a,c,26). I praise You for Your awesome love, for the wonderful gift of Yeshua’s righteousness and the indwelling of the Ruach Ha’Kodesh. I love pleasing You! In Yeshua’s holy name and power of His resurrection. Amen

The Reason for the Inner Conflict
7: 18-21

The reason for the inner conflict DIG: What two things did Paul learn? Where does our old [sin nature] come from? Why does God choose not to get rid of it now? What is Paul’s remedy for this battle with the old [sin nature]? When did we get to choose between good and evil? How does the Adversary and his demons use our sin [sin nature] against us?

REFLECT: Have you learned that “good itself does not dwell in” you? How can you keep from merely being a busy bee? If you have the desire to do good, why can’t you carry it out? How long will this inner conflict last? Is it enough to say, “The devil made me do it?” Why not? How are you doing at taking responsibility for your sin? How can you help someone this week?

As a believer grows in his spiritual life, he will inevitably have both an increased hatred of sin and an increased love for righteousness.

Paul learned two things in this struggle, and they are something that many of us believers need to learn: For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my [sinful nature] (7:18a). Have you learned that? Have you found that good itself does not dwell in you? Oh, how many of us believers feel that we can do something in the flesh that will please God! Many believers who never find out otherwise become as busy as termites and have about the same effect where they worship. They are busy as bees, but they aren’t making any honey! They get on committees, they are chairmen of boards, they try to run the place, and they think they are pleasing God. Although they are busy, they have no vital connection with the Person of Messiah. His life is not being lived through them. They are attempting to do it in their own strength and flesh.¹⁸⁹

Paul found out something else that is very important for us to learn: For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do – this I keep on doing (7:18b-19). Again, it is important to understand that this great inner conflict with sin is not experienced by the underdeveloped and childish believer, but by the mature person of God. David was a man after God’s own heart (First Samuel 13:14) and was honored by having the Messiah named the Son (or descendant) of David. Yet no one in the TaNaKh seems to be a worse sinner, or was more conscious of his own sin than David.

In search for forgiveness David opened his sinful heart (see the commentary on the Life of David, to see link click Df – O God, A Broken and Contrite Heart You Will Not Despise). For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me. There is a cleansing when we take responsibility for our own sin. We have a tendency to blame everyone and everything but ourselves. But Nathan’s words brought David back to reality: Against You, You only, have I sinned and done what is evil in Your sight so that You are proved right when you speak and justified when You judge. This is the road to recovery. When we take our sin to ADONAI, there is absolute justice and absolute mercy for God delights in forgiving the repentant sinner.¹⁹⁰ Surely, I was born in iniquity, and in sin my mother conceived me. We are all born, yes, even conceived, with the disease of sin because of Adam’s fall: By one man’s disobedience many were made sinners (Romans 5:19). As a result, we are totally corrupt and unable to save ourselves from our sinful condition. Surely You desire truth in the innermost place (Psalm 51:3-6). Only when we believe that the Truth became flesh (John 1:14) and died for our sins can this be achieved. The godly surrender, cry out to God, confess their sins, and receive the assurance of Messiah’s forgiveness.

Paul repeats what he said in 7:17-17, with only a slight variation. Now if I do what I do not want to do, he argues with simple logic, then if follows that it is no longer I who do it, but it is the [sin nature] living in me that does it (7:20). The [sin nature] goes to battle against the divine nature. As Paul said in his letter to the believers in Galatia: For the old [sin nature] wants what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit wants what is contrary to the old [sin nature]. These oppose each other, so that you find yourselves unable to carry out your good intentions (Galatians 5:17).

The believer has an old [sin nature] that wants to keep him in bondage. “I will get free from these old sins,” the believer says to himself. “I determine here and now that I will not do this any longer!” What happens? He tries as hard as he can with all his willpower and energy, and for a time succeeds, but then, when he least expects it, he falls again. Why? Because he tried to overcome his old [sin nature] under the power of his own will.¹⁹¹ But Paul’s remedy is to walk by the Ruach (see the commentary on Galatians Bv – Walk by the Ruach, and Not the Desires of the Flesh).

So, I find this “law” or “principle” at work: The word Torah, literally, means teaching. It can be used for the five books of Moshe, or the whole TaNaKh (John 10:34). Uncapitalized, Torah can be understood generally as a law or principle (Romans 7:21-8:2).

So, I find this law or principle at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me (7:21). The continuing presence of evil in a believer’s life is so universal that Paul refers to it not as an uncommon thing, but as such a common reality as to be called a continually operating law at work. Our old [sin nature] does battle with every good thing a believer desires to do . . . every good thought, every good intention, every good motive, every good word, and every good deed. ADONAI warned Cain when he became angry that Abel’s sacrifice was accepted but his own was not: Sin is crouching at the door – it wants you, but you can rule over it (Genesis 4:7b). Sin continues to crouch at the door, even for believers, in order to lead us into disobedience.¹⁹²

Dear Loving Heavenly Father, Praise You for our cleansing us when we get saved and become Your child (John 1:12). Praise You for Your forgiveness when we sin after becoming your child. Though Your children would love to be perfect the moment we become Your children, perfection will only be obtained when we get to heaven and wear Yeshua’s robe of righteousness. He made the One who knew no sin to become a sin offering on our behalf, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God (Second Corinthians 5:21). Thank You that when Your child sins, you do not punish in wrath; but you lovingly discipline him so the peaceful fruit of righteousness is produced. “My son, do not take lightly the discipline of Adonai or lose heart when you are corrected by Him, because ADONAI disciplines the one He loves and punishes every son He accepts.”. . . Now all discipline seems painful at the moment – not joyful. But later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it (Hebrews 12:5b-6, 11).

When we confess our sin, You have promised to forgive us and to purify us. “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness” (First John 1:9). I want to follow You in all I do, think and say and I do not want to ever sin; but when I stumble and sin, I will run to You in confession and ask You to forgive and to purify me. I love You. In Yeshua’s holy name and power of resurrection. Amen

The Inner Conflict
7: 14-25

This section is obviously a touching account of a mature believer’s inner conflict with sin, one part of him pulling one direction and another part pulling in the opposite direction. The conflict is real and it is intense. The more mature believers measure themselves against God’s standards of righteousness, the more they realize how much they fall short. They place no value on their own goodness or achievements. The closer we get to YHVH, the more we see our own sin.

It also seems, as one would naturally suppose from the use of the first person singular (which appears forty-six times in Romans 7:7-25), that Paul is speaking of himself. Not only is he the subject of these verses, but it is the mature and spiritually seasoned apostle that is portrayed. Only a believer at the height of spiritual maturity would either experience or be concerned about such deep struggles of heart, mind, and conscience. The more clearly and completely he saw ADONAI’s holiness and goodness, the more Paul recognized and grieved over his own sinfulness.

Beginning at 7:14 there is also an obvious change in Paul’s circumstances in relation to sin. In 7:7-13 he speaks of sin as deceiving and slaying him (to see link click Bz – Application to Believers in Yeshua). He gives the picture of being at sin’s mercy and helpless to free himself from its deadly grasp. But here, in 7:14-15, he speaks of a conscious and determined battle against sin, which is still a powerful enemy, but no longer his master. In the latter part of Chapter 7 Paul also continues to defend the righteousness of the Torah and rejoice in its benefits, which, although it cannot save from sin, it can, nevertheless, continue to be his blueprint for living (see the commentary on Exodus Dh – Moses and the Torah).¹⁸⁵

Anyone who has ever failed to live up to YHVH’s mitzvot can identify with what Paul is saying here. As Yeshua put it: The spirit is eager, but the human [sin nature] is weak (Matthew 26:41). Similarly, the Talmud states, “At first sin is like an occasional visitor, then like a quest to stay a while, and finally like the master of the house” (Genesis Rabbah 22:6; Sukkah 52b). But as long as we remain on this earth in our mortal, corrupted bodies, the Torah will continue to be our spiritual ally.

Dear Pure and Holy Heavenly Father, I praise You that You are perfectly holy. You are totally pure in Your every thought, inclination and heart’s desire. How wonderful it is to know that You, our Father, are so pure and clean. Not only do you never sin, you cannot tolerate sin. It is an abomination to You and there will be no sin in Your heavenly home. And nothing unholy shall ever enter it, nor anyone doing what is detestable or false, but only those written in the Book of Life (Revelation 21:27). Praise Your great love which offered Yeshua’s blood when He died on the cross as the payment for our sins. What awful shame and great pain He endured for us so that we could share in His righteousness. He made the One who knew no sin to become a sin offering on our behalf, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God (Second Corinthians 5:21).

I am so grateful for the immeasurably great and costly gift of love that You, God, gave so that those who love You could come to live with you forever in Your holy heaven. When trials come in my life I will focus on the wonderful joy and peace I will have in eternity in heaven. For our trouble, light and momentary, is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, as we look not at what can be seen but at what cannot be seen. For what can be seen is temporary, but what cannot be seen is eternal. (Second Corinthians 4:16-17). I look forward to praising You forever! In Yeshua’s holy name and power of His resurrection. Amen

The Spiritual Battle
7:14 to 8:39

Understanding the conflict in personal sanctification involves seeing the relationship between the believer and his indwelling sin. In relating his personal experience in 7:14-15, Paul switches to the present tense here, whereas before he used the past tense. Obviously, he was describing his present conflict as a believer with indwelling sin and its continuing efforts to control his daily life. But at the same time, he describes the spiritual battle of every believer. When a person comes to trust Yeshua as his personal Lord and Savior, he surrenders to Him all of himself that he can. But as he grows in his faith, he finds previously hidden portions of himself, areas of sin he was formerly unaware of, which he must then surrender as well. Preceding each such surrender is a “Romans 7 experience,” and it takes place only when he is willing to move into Romans 8 with respect to that part of his life.¹⁸⁴

The great triumph of the believer’s faith is total deliverance from condemnation. Paul does not say that there is nothing in us that deserves condemnation, because there is, but the truth of the gospel is that Messiah Yeshua has released us from condemnation. The believer has been granted perfect righteousness and lives according to the Torah of the Spirit, which is the Torah of God. We are not only forgiven; we have received the Ruach Ha’Kodesh into our very bodies (First Corinthians 6:19-20). He is our source of divine power to bring our necessary sanctification, to be set apart, specifically, to the holy use and purposes of God. Romans 8 is where Paul gathers various strands of thought, starting with the gospel in Romans 1. Here, he links justification with sanctification.¹⁸⁴

Paul teaches about our salvation in three phases: the past, or justification (to see link click Ax – The Universal Solution: Justification); the present, or sanctification, here; and the future, or glorification (see Cj – The Completed Redemption).

Application to Believers in Yeshua
7: 7-13

Application to believers in Yeshua DIG: What is the significance of the shift in pronouns in this section? Why does the Torah arouse sin? How does the Torah reveal sin? How is sin dead apart from the Torah? How does the Torah, which is supposed to lead to spiritual blessing actually lead to spiritual death? Where is the real battle going on?

REFLECT: In light of your own struggles with sin, how do you feel reading about Paul’s conflict? Does it encourage you, or discourage you? Why? How is this a model for a healthy, realistic self-image? When have you experienced the sense of Yeshua rescuing you from sin or situations that were too big for you to handle? How does Messiah help you right now?

The Torah is like a mirror being held up to reveal our own sin.

Therefore, what are we to say? That the Torah is sinful? Using the strongest Greek negative, Paul declares: Heaven forbid (Hebrew: chalilah, meaning that’s a contradiction, it makes no sense)! Not only is Torah not sinful, but it continues to have great value for the believer by convincing him of sin (Romans 3:19-20, 5:20, 7:7a). After reading the Torah no one could claim to be without sin. Paul gives four elements of the convicting work of Torah.

It is significant that, beginning with verse 7, and continuing to verse 25, Paul turned to the first person singular, presenting his own personal experience. Up to this point he had used the third person, the second person, and even the first person plural. But now he describes his own experience, allowing the Ruach Ha’Kodesh to apply the truth to his readers.¹⁷⁹

The Torah reveals sin (7:7b): Rather, the function of the Torah was that without it, I would not have known what sin is. Apart from the Torah we would have no way of accurately judging our sinfulness. Paul is not speaking about mankind’s general awareness of right and wrong. Even pagan Gentiles who had never heard of the Torah, nevertheless, have God’s Torah written on their hearts, their consciences bearing witness to this, for their conflicting thoughts sometimes accuse them and other times defend them (2:15). In the present passage, Paul is speaking about knowledge of the full extent and depravity of man’s sin. For example, I would not have become conscious of what greed is if the Torah had not said, “Do not covet” (7:7b). This example shows that the Torah cannot be seen as a set of behavior rules to be followed legalistically. The real battle is internal, in the heart and mind. The Torah makes a person aware of his sin and of his need for divine forgiveness and redemption and to set the standard of acceptable morality.

The central theme of the Sermon on the Mount (see the commentary on The Life of Christ, to see link click Cz – Introduction to the Sermon on the Mount), is that YHVH demands perfect righteousness of the heart, a righteousness that far exceeds the external, hypocritical righteousness of Pharisaic Judaism. Yeshua said : You have heard that it was said to the people long ago through Moses My servant: You shall not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment (Mattityahu 5:21). The Pharisees said that people were not guilty of murder until they actually murdered someone. They reduced this commandment to something merely external. As long as you weren’t killing people, you were innocent of any wrongdoing. The difference throughout is between the letter of the commandment in the Torah and the spirit of the commandment.

But the Master struck at the heart of the issue when He said: But I tell you that anyone who is even angry with a brother or sister will be subject to judgment (Matthew 5:22). Jesus said that righteousness could be broken even before the act is committed. It was not enough to merely fulfill the mitzvah of not murdering, but we are called to a higher standard of not even being angry with a brother or sister. The principles of the Kingdom go beyond external obedience to the motivations and thoughts of the heart, all based on the Torah.

The Torah arouses sin (7:8): Once again, Paul makes it clear that the Torah itself is not sinful and is not responsible for sin. Here, Paul’s meaning for sin comes very close to the rabbinic notion of the yetzer ra’ or the evil inclination, which desires only that which is forbidden. Unlike the rabbis, however, he pictures sin here, and on through 7:25, as being beyond mankind’s ability to control it. But sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, worked in me all kinds of evil desires – for apart from Torah, sin is dead (Romans 7:8; Exodus 20:17; Deuteronomy 5:21). There is something in human nature that wants to rebel whenever a boundary is set. When people notice a sign that reads, “Keep off the grass,” or “Don’t pick the flowers,” for instance, there is often a simple impulse to do the very thing the sign forbids.

In his rich allegory Pilgrim’s Progress, John Bunyan paints a vivid word picture of sin’s arousal by the Torah. A large, dust-covered room in the Interpreter’s house symbolizes the human heart. When a man with a broom, representing the Torah, begins to sweep, the dust swirls up and all but suffocates Christian. That is what Torah does to sin. It so agitates sin that it becomes stifling. And just as a broom cannot clean a room of dust, but merely stirs it up, so the Torah cannot clean the heart of sin, but only make sin more evident and unpleasant.

The basis of Paul’s argument here is that for apart from Torah, sin is dead. It is not true that sin has no existence apart from the Torah, because that’s obviously not true. Paul had already stated that, long before the Torah was revealed, sin entered the world through Adam and then spread to all of his descendants (5:12). Sin was indeed present in the world before Torah was given, but sin is not counted as such when there is no Torah (5:13). Paul makes the point that sin is dead in the sense that it is somewhat dormant and not fully active, until confronted with the truth of the Torah. Then sin is aroused.

The Torah brings spiritual death to the sinner (7:9-11): The Torah not only reveals and arouses sin, but it also brings death to the sinner. Torah cannot give spiritual life. It can only show the sinner that he is guilty and condemned. I was once alive outside the framework of Torah. But when the commandment really confronted me, sin sprang to life, and I died (7:9-10a). As a highly trained and zealous Pharisee, he was an expert on the Torah and considered himself to be blameless in regard to it, thus thinking he lived a life that pleased God (Philippians 3:6). But when the truth of the commandment confronted him, he began to see himself as he really was and began to understand how far short he came to the Torah’s righteous standards. Thus, on the one hand, the sin within him sprang to life. But on the other hand, he died in the sense of his realizing that all his religious accomplishments were mere spiritual garbage (Philippians 3:7-9). His self-esteem, self-satisfaction, and pride were devastated and in ruins. Paul died. That is, for the first time, he realized he was spiritually dead. The commandment that was intended to bring spiritual blessing into my life was found to be bringing me spiritual death (7:10b)!¹⁸⁰

Paul was not unique among Jewish writers in pointing out that the Torah produces death when rejected or misused. Timothy said: We know that the Torah is good, provided one uses it in the way the Torah itself intends, as our blueprint for living. We are aware that Torah is not for the person who is righteous, but for those who are heedless of Torah and rebellious, ungodly and sinful, wicked and worldly, for people who kill their fathers and mothers, and for murderers (First Timothy 1:8-9). And Rabbi Y’hoshua ben-L’vi said, “What is the meaning of the verse: And this is the Torah which Moses set before the children of Isra’el (Deuteronomy 4:44)? It means that if a person is admirable, it becomes for him a medicine that gives life; but if not, it becomes a deadly poison” (Yoma 72b).¹⁸¹

Paul also said that sin deceived him. For sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, deceived me; and through the commandment, sin killed me (Romans 7:11; Leviticus 18:5; Deuteronomy 30:19). Deceit is one of sin’s most subtle and disastrous evils. A person who is deceived into thinking he is acceptable to God because of his own merit and good deeds will see no need for salvation and no reason for trusting Messiah. It is doubtless for that reason that all false religions – including those who claim the name of Messiah (see the commentary on Galatians Ak – The Hebrew Roots Movement: A Different Gospel), in one way or another are built on a deceptive foundation of self-trust and self-effort. Self-righteousness is not righteousness at all but is the worst of sins.¹⁸²

The Torah reflects the wickedness of sin (7:12-13): So, the Torah is not cancelled (see the commentary on The Life of Christ Dg – The Completion of the Torah). It is holy; that is, the commandment is holy, just and good (Romans 7:12; Genesis 3:13). It is our blueprint for living (see the commentary on Deuteronomy Bk – The Ten Words). The fact that sin reveals, arouses, and brings spiritual death to the sinner does not make it wicked in itself. If an Israelite sacrificed one of his children to Molech and was therefore stoned to death (Leviticus 20:2), the Torah was blameless. The fault was in the one who violated the Torah.

Then did something good become for me the source of death? Heaven forbid! It is not the Torah that causes spiritual death, rather, it was sin working death in me through something good, so that sin might be clearly exposed as sin, so that sin through the commandment might come to be experienced as sinful beyond measure (7:13). Sin’s deadly character is exposed under the pure light of God’s Torah. The Torah isn’t the problem. We’re the problem. It’s not the Torah that causes spiritual death, it’s our sinfulness of not obeying the Torah. Paul’s point here is that sin is so utterly sinful that it can even pervert and undermine God’s holy Torah. Sin can twist and distort the Torah so that instead of bringing spiritual blessing, as ADONAI intended, it brings spiritual death. It can manipulate the pure Torah of God to deceive and damn people to hell. Such is the awful wickedness of sin.

Dear Heavenly Father, Praise You that though sin is powerful, You are Almighty and have made it possible for us to conquer sin thru Your power. No temptation has taken hold of you except what is common to mankind. But God is faithful – He will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you can handle. But with the temptation He will also provide a way of escape, so you will be able to endure it (First Corinthians 10:13).

Praise You that as I keep my eyes on You, I can win over any temptation for Your Almighty Ruach lives within each of those who love and will help them be victorious over any temptation. I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper so He may be with you forever – the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not behold Him or know Him. You know Him, because He abides with you and will be in you (John 14:16-17). When temptation or trial comes, I will remember that these problems will soon be over. For I consider the sufferings of this present time not worthy to be compared with the coming glory to be revealed to us (Romans 8:18). I will spend eternity with my Awesome Father whom I love. It is so much more peaceful when a stressful situation comes to – not complain but to rest the problem in Your hands asking for You to guide in each detail. You are Wonderful! I look forward to worshipping and praising You for all eternity! In Your Yeshua’s holy name and power of His resurrection. Amen

Torah Background
7: 1-6

Torah background DIG: After “death and life” and “slavery and freedom” what new image is used here? Which of these three analogies helps you to best understand your relationship with Messiah? What did the Torah produce in those who tried to obey all of its 613 mitzvot? Is it the Torah’s fault that we sin? Why? Why not? How has Yeshua changed all of this?

REFLECT: Do you feel more “married” to the living Messiah or some religious code or rules and regulations? How have you experienced the difference? In your life’s vineyard, what would your “fruit for God” look like? How will you use your spiritual gift this week? Who is the living Torah? Who can you share your faith in Yeshua Messiah with this week?

Because the Jews have been made dead with regard to the Torah, they are now free to be united with the one who has been raised from the dead, namely Yeshua Messiah.

The axiom (7:1): Surely you know, brothers (fellow Jews) – for I am speaking to those who understand the law (Greek: nomos, meaning law as a general principle) – that the law has authority over a person only so long as he lives (7:1)? The main point here is the law, any law, whether it be Roman law, Greek law, or the God-given Torah has authority over a person only so long as he lives (7:1). If a criminal dies, he is no longer subject to prosecution and punishment, no matter how numerous and heinous his crimes may have been. Lee Harvey Oswald, the infamous assassin of President John F. Kennedy, was never brought to trial for that act because he himself was assassinated before his trial began. The law (Greek: nomos) is binding only on the living.¹⁷³

These verses actually continue the discussion Paul began in 6:15, answering the question: What conclusion should we reach? “Let’s go on sinning, because we’re not under legalism but under grace” (6:15a)? There, he used the analogy of a master and a slave to explain how the believer should yield himself to YHVH. In this passage, he uses the marriage covenant as an appropriate analogy to show that the Jews have a new relationship to the Torah because of their union with Yeshua Messiah.

The analogy (7:2-3): The analogy is a simple one, but it has a profound application. For example, a married woman is bound (Greek: hupandros, in the perfect tense, meaning is permanently bound, with no release) by Torah to her husband while he is alive; but if the husband dies, she is released from the part of the Torah that deals with husbands (7:2). When a man and a woman marry, they are united for life. Marriage is a physical union (Genesis 2:24), and can only be broken by a physical cause – death. Therefore, while the husband is alive, she will be called an adulteress if she marries another man; but if the husband dies, she is free from that part of the Torah; so that if she marries another man, she is not an adulteress (7:2-3). As long as they live, the husband and the wife are under the authority of the law of marriage. If the woman leaves her husband and marries another man, she commits adultery. But if her husband dies, she is free to remarry because she is no longer a wife. Death has broken the marriage covenant and she is set free.¹⁷⁴

The application (7:4-5): Thus, you are either married to the Torah . . . or you are married to Messiah. My brothers, you have been made dead with regard to the Torah (7:4a). It is not the Torah that has been made dead, nor is a believer made dead in the sense of no longer responding to its truth. Rather, three aspects of Torah are explored:

First, the capacity of the Torah to make us sin is not the fault of the Torah but a fault in ourselves. A healthy person thrives in an environment deadly to someone who is ill; likewise, the Torah, beneficial to the believer living by faith, is an instrument of death to those controlled by the [sin nature]. The fault is in ourselves in that we have a sinful tendency (to see link click Bm – The Consequences of Adam) to pervert Torah, making it into a framework of legalism instead of what it is, a framework of grace. For your [sin nature] will not have authority over you; because you are not under legalism but under grace (6:14).

Secondly, Torah can still produce feelings of guilt in the believer – as it should whenever he reflects on his sinful behavior. But these feelings are not permanent. The remedy is the confession and repentance of sin (First John 1:9 to 2:2), coupled with the restitution to any injured parties and reliance on the power of the Ruach Ha’Kodesh (see Cf – The Victory in the Ruach Ha’Kodesh).

Thirdly, it is through the Messiah’s body, through His atoning death (see Ba – The Picture of Justification), the believers have been made dead to the penalties set forth in the Torah for disobeying it. The Messiah redeemed us from the curse pronounced in the Torah by becoming cursed on our behalf (Galatians 3:13a).

Paul’s analogy switches directions several times in this verse. It is through the Messiah’s body, through His atoning death, that believers have been made dead to the aspects of the Torah on which Paul is concentrating. Because a death has taken place, they are now free to belong to someone else. That is, using Paul’s analogy, they are no longer “married” to legalism, but free to marry and be united with the one who has been raised from the dead, namely Yeshua Messiah, in order for us to bear fruit for God as evidenced by a transformed life (7:4).¹⁷⁵

We know that Paul is not denigrating Torah itself, because, even in this chapter, he talks about its importance. The Torah doesn’t die, but the relationship to the Torah changes. In a marriage, when one spouse dies, there is no more covenant between them. Messianic Jews have a different relationship with the Torah than Orthodox, Reformed, or Conservative Jews have. To them, Torah is the main relationship through observance. But Rabbi Sha’ul is saying that there is a higher principle here. The Torah is meant to lead us to Messiah. Because this is just an analogy, you can’t press the details here. The Torah isn’t dead to Jewish believers, but the relationship to Messiah should be their main focus. He is the living Torah.¹⁷⁶

The Torah is the Word of God, it is perfect and eternal. The question Paul addresses here is how do Jews approach the Torah? What is the Jewish relationship to the Torah? Before Messiah came, the Jews had a relationship with Torah based on the 613 mitzvot and obedience to them. Not for salvation, but as a blueprint for living. Messianic Jews still revere the Torah (Psalm 1:1-3), but they see the Torah through the lens of Yeshua (see the commentary on The Life of Christ Dg – The Completion of the Torah).¹⁷⁷

For when we were living according to our old [sin nature], the passions connected with sins worked through the Torah in our various parts, with the result that we bore fruit for death (7:5). However, Paul says: If anyone is united with Messiah, there is a new creation (Second Corinthians 5:17); that is, he has a second, new, divine nature controlled by the Ruach Ha’Kodesh. The old [sin nature] had died with Yeshua (6:5); and by the power of the Ruach it will stay dead – we owe nothing to it, that we should obey its corrupted and misguided passions (8:1-13). Instead, as a result of our being united with Yeshua, we owe YHVH obedience to His desires and mitzvot.

The affirmation (7:6): Because Yeshua paid the penalty for our disobedience to the Torah, death, we have been released from this aspect of the Torah, namely, obedience to our old [sin nature]. We have died to that which had us in its clutches, so that we are serving in the new way provided by the Spirit, who has written the Torah on our hearts (see the commentary on Jeremiah Eo – The Days are Coming, declares the LORD, When I Will Make a New Covenant with the People of Isra’el), and not in the old way of outwardly following the letter of the law, or legalism, which brings death (7:6).¹⁷⁸

Dear Heavenly Father, Praise You so very much for the relationship that You offer all who love You. It is amazing that You not only pay our sin debt but You offer Your love to all who are willing to love You back. Praise You that You do not just give a certificate of debt paid to those who love and follow You; but You give Yourself as a part of a living and eternal relationship. Yeshua answered and said to him: If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word. My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our dwelling with him (John 14:23). 

Just as a new bride and groom love each other with a fresh love that sparkles in delight at pleasing their new found love – so I delight to please You by obeying You from my heart. He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me. He who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and reveal Myself to him (John 14:21). I look forward to worshipping and praising You throughout all eternity. In Yeshua’s holy name and power of His resurrection. Amen

Marriage
7: 1-13

Paul has explored the meaning of dying with Messiah (to see link click Bp – The Messianic Mikveh), and the concept of slavery (see Bt – Slaves of God), building on the groundwork already laid (see Bl – Midrash on Adam). Now, in relating these ideas to the Torah, he introduces the new analogy of marriage. It is important to understand that throughout this chapter it must be kept in mind that Paul was not anti-Torah, as some suppose, but that he had a high view of the Torah. In fact, he teaches us that the Torah is holy (Romans 7:12), perfect, and gives freedom, provided one uses it in the way the Torah itself intends (First Timothy 1:8; James 1:25), which is our blueprint for living (see the commentary on Deuteronomy Bk – The Ten Words).

Every year in the late spring I am reminded of another important wedding anniversary. This one is celebrated on the holiday of Shavu’ot (Pentecost in Greek) which is the time when the marriage took place between YHVH and His people Isra’el. You remember the history. At Passover we recount the redemption from the slavery of Egypt. Yet this nation of former slaves was taken into the wilderness on their way to the Promised Land. Unfortunately, it was a bit of a detour in the Sinai for various reasons. However, it was just 50 days after the first Passover that the people found themselves at the foot of Mount Sinai. Moshe ascended the cloud-covered mountain (reminiscent of a chuppah) and received the divine revelation of the Torah from the very presence of God. As with the Jewish wedding ceremony, the written words of Torah could rightly picture the Ketubah between the groom (God) and the bride (Isra’el). Likewise, there was a public statement of marriage at that time as the bride responded “na’aseh v’nishmah,” or: All that the Lord has spoken, we will do (Exodus 19:8). This was perhaps the most powerful “I do” in history! From that time of Shavu’ot one could say that the Jews entered into a sanctified relationship with the Holy One. Of course, this marriage, like most, has had its ups and downs. Even at some stages of the last 3500 years it seemed that divorce was inevitable. But by God’s grace, He has never cancelled the Ketubah (the Jewish marriage contract) with Isra’el as the B’rit Chadashah verifies. Paul put it this way as he speaks of Isra’el and the Jewish people: The gifts and callings of God are irrevocable (Romans 11:29). It should be noted that while Ha’Shem has never forsaken His people, the door has been opened to others beyond Isra’el to also enter this personal marriage relationship with our Groom. For those of us who believe in Yeshua as God’s Messiah, it is quite fitting that He is called the Groom for all true believers, Jew or Gentile. How perfect is the symbolism as we see Yeshua lifting the cup of the B’rit Chadashah as if to enter into the betrothal stage of the marriage with His disciples at that last meal together.

This is where we stand at this point of history. God entered into the marriage with all the people who said “I do” on that first Shavu’ot. How appropriate it is to look at this holiday as the spiritual anniversary for all who have said “I do” to the great bridegroom, Messiah Yeshua. As with our earthly anniversaries, it seems that Shavu’ot is the perfect time to consider our original biblical vows and to prayerfully evaluate them. God has certainly fulfilled His part of the contract. How do you measure up to those vows of the Ketubah on this upcoming anniversary on Shavu’ot this year?  Chag Shavu’ot semayach! (Happy Shavu’ot Holiday)!

The New Benefits in Messiah
6: 17-23

The new benefits in Messiah DIG: Paul has said that Yeshua came into the world so that our sins could be forgiven and we could be reconciled to YHVH. So why shouldn’t believers keep on sinning? How does offering yourself to someone or something in obedience make you a slave to that person or thing? Give some examples. How does slavery to Messiah bring freedom from your [sin nature]? What are some of the consequences of being a slave to sin? What are the benefits of being a slave to righteousness?

REFLECT: Why do you think people choose to be slaves to their [sin nature] rather than righteousness? What are the long term effects of choosing to continue a lifestyle of sin? What are some ways you can begin each day focusing on the victory Yeshua has given you rather than the defeat the enemy wants you to have? What bad habits do you need to address? What changes do you need to make to lead a godly lifestyle? How do Paul’s words here challenge your attitude toward the ongoing battle with your [sin nature]?

God’s purpose in redeeming us from sin is not to give us the freedom to do as we please, but the freedom to do as He pleases, which is to live righteously.

Paul here explains and applies the principle he has just stated in 6:16, namely, that a person is either a slave to the sin of Satan or the of God. In doing so, he contrasts the three different aspects of those two areas of righteousness slavery: their position, their practice and their promise.

Their position (6:17-18): The Ruach Ha’Kodesh reminded Paul of what the grace of God had already accomplished in the lives of his readers, and he burst forth in praise. Formerly, Paul says, they were once slaves to their [sin nature], but no more. Were translates an imperfect Greek tense, signifying an ongoing reality. In other words, the unregenerate person is under the continual, unbroken slavery to their [sin nature]. That is the universal position of the lost, with no exceptions. No matter how outwardly moral, upright, or benevolent an unsaved person’s life may be, all that he thinks, says, and does, comes from a proud, sinful, ungodly heart. Quoting from Psalm 14, Paul had already made that truth clear: There is no one righteous, not even one! No one understands, no one seeks God, all have turned away and at the same time become useless; there is no one who shows kindness, not a single one (Romans 3:10-12)!

That Paul was not speaking about merely outward righteousness is made clear from his declaration that his readers had obeyed from their heart the pattern of teaching to which they were exposed; and after you had been set free from your [sin nature], you became enslaved to righteousness (6:17-18). Genuine faith is not only in God’s Son, but in God’s truth. Yeshua said: I AM the Way – and the Truth and the Life; no one comes to the Father except through Me (John 14:6). Paul had confidence in the salvation of his readers in the church at Rome because they obeyed from their heart the pattern of teaching to which they were exposed. No believer, of course, comprehends all of God’s truth. Even the most mature and faithful believer only begins to understand the riches of God’s Word in this present life. But the desire to know and obey God’s truth is one of the surest marks of genuine salvation.¹⁶⁷

Their practice (6:19): It is difficult to put divine principles and truths into terms that finite human minds can comprehend. In saying: I am speaking in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh (6:19a NASB), Paul meant that the analogy of masters and slaves was used as an accommodation to our humanity. Here, Paul changes the focus from position to practice, encouraging us to make our living correspond to our new divine natures. Although it is still possible for us to sin, we are no longer bound by sin. Now we are free not to sin, and should exercise our divinely-provided ability in obedience to our new Lord and Master.

Before salvation, believers were like the rest of fallen humanity, having no other desire or ability but to follow our own natural bent: You used to offer your various parts [of your body] as slaves to impurity and lawlessness, which led to more lawlessness, which is one of the purposes of the Torah, which is our blueprint for living (see the commentary on Deuteronomy, to see link click Bk – The Ten Words). But now, Paul declares, “Since you have been freed from the marketplace of sin, offer your various parts as slaves to righteousness, which leads to being made holy, set apart for God” (6:19). As believers, however, now we have a choice to sin, or not to sin. Before salvation, however, we were like brute beasts, and sinning was our natural state. Sinning, for us, was as easy as falling off a log.¹⁶⁸

Their promise (6:20-22): Each course of action has its own set of consequences. For when you were slaves of your old [sin nature], you were free in relationship to righteousness. That is, they have no connection to righteousness; it can make no demands on them since they possess neither the desire nor the ability to meet its requirements. They are controlled and ruled by sin, the master they are bound to serve. But what benefit did you derive from the things of which you are now ashamed? One of the marks of true salvation is a sense of being ashamed of one’s life before coming to Messiah. The end result of those things was death, the second death (see the commentary on Revelation Fp – The Lake of Fire is the Second Death), which is spiritual death and eternal torment in hell (6:20-21).¹⁶⁹

The bondage to the [sin nature] only leads to the unsaved going deeper into slavery so that it becomes more and more difficult to do what is right. The prodigal son is an example of this (see the commentary on The Life of Christ Hu – The Parable of the Lost Son and His Jealous Brother). When he was at home, he wanted his freedom, so he left home to find himself and enjoy himself. But his rebellion only led him deeper into slavery. He was the slave of wrong desires, then the slave of wrong deeds, and finally became a literal slave when he had to take care of the pigs. He wanted to find himself . . . but he lost himself! What he thought was freedom turned out to be the worst kind of slavery. It was only when he returned home and yielded to his father that he found true freedom.¹⁷⁰

However, now, freed from your [sin nature] and enslaved to God, you do get the benefit – it consists in being made holy, or set apart for God, and its end result is eternal life (6:22). In salvation, YHVH not only frees us from sin’s ultimate penalty, but also frees us from its present tyranny. Freed from our [sin nature] does not mean that we are no longer capable of sinning, but that we are no longer enslaved to it, we are no longer its helpless subject. Obviously, some believers are more faithful and obedient than others, but we are equally freed from our [sin nature] and equally enslaved to God, equally set apart for God and equally granted eternal life.¹⁷¹

This is part of the Romans Road to salvation (6:23): This is a way of explaining the Good News of salvation using verses from the book of Romans. It is a simple yet powerful method of explaining why we need salvation, how God provided salvation, how we can receive salvation, and what are the results of salvation. The beginning of the Romans Road is for all have sinned and come short of earning the glory of God’s praise (3:23).

Then we read: For the wages of your [sin nature] is death (6:23a). This is the second leg of our journey on the Romans Road to salvation. It teaches us about the consequences of sin: For the wages of your [sin nature] is death (6:23a). The wages of work is money, but the wages of sin is death. In other words, what I earn – the penalty, the punishment of sin – is death. Death is separation. The Bible speaks of two kinds of death that is two kinds of separation. The first death is separation of the body and the soul. If I were to die right now my body would fall to the floor, but my soul, the real me, would go somewhere else. But the Bible speaks of another death, one it calls the second death. This is separation of the soul from God. Now, the penalty of sin is death, spiritual death, and separation from the LORD. To put it simply – hell. All this is really bad news. But there is good news.

Dear Heavenly Father, How grateful I am to You for loving each of Your children so much that You willingly paid the very painful and costly debt of my sin by Your death on the cross as the sacrificial lamb (John 1:29) dying in my place; thereby giving me your righteousness so that I may enter holy heaven. He made the One who knew no sin to become a sin offering on our behalf, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God (Second Corinthians 5:21). Yet my heart is very heavy for those of my family and friends who know all about You and the mighty things you have done. They are quite willing for You to save them and take them to heaven – but they don’t realize that lip service is not love.

Please open their eyes to see the joy of submitting to you as their Lord. Then You will be their Savior. Please let them realize the big difference between mere head knowledge and joyful heart love. Thank You for working in their lives so they too will become Your child and will call you Lord. For if you confess with your mouth that Yeshua is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart it is believed for righteousness, and with the mouth it is confessed for salvation. For the Scripture says, “Whoever trusts in Him will not be put to shame” (Romans 10:9-11). I love You dear Father -my Lord and Savior and I delight in telling others about You! In Yeshua’s holy name and power of His resurrection. Amen 

The third verse on the Romans Road to salvation picks up where Romans 6:23a left off:

But eternal life (see the commentary on The Life of Christ Ms – The Eternal Security of the Believer) is what one receives as a free gift, not a wage or something that can be earned from God, in union with the Messiah Yeshua, our Lord (6:23b). Romans 5:8 declares: But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. We were spiritually dead and unable to make the first move toward God because we inherited Adam’s [sin nature] that rebelled and separated us from Him. So, God made the first move toward us by sending His one-and-only Son to die in our place for the payment for our sins. We stand before the Son of God, guilty of sin, and facing a death penalty. But Yeshua, as judge (John 5:27), comes down from behind the seat of judgment, takes off His judicial robe and stands beside us. It is there that He says to us, “I will take your place. I will die for you.” And if you were the only person in the world, He still would have died for you. The penalty for sin is death, but Messiah died and paid for sin so we do not have to go to hell. Messiah’s resurrection proves that God accepted Yeshua’s death as the payment for our sins. And since we can do no works to gain our salvation, we can do no works to lose our salvation.

Life lesson: Before we trust in Messiah’s power and presence in our lives, our [sin nature] and sinful habits exercise power over us. Our efforts to control them are largely ineffective. Whether or not we fight, we’re in a losing battle. Our [sin nature] controls us. When we accept Messiah, however, the rules change. Our [sin nature] and sinful habits no longer have power, though they relentlessly seek to maintain influence over us and gain our permission to continue their destructive work. Paul tells us that before we knew Yeshua, we were slaves to our [sin nature]. But Messiah has purchased us and given us our freedom. We now have a choice, and by the power of the Ruach Ha’Kodesh can say “No!” to our [sin nature] and experience the power of overcoming it and sinful habits.¹⁷²

Dear Heavenly Father, Praise You for greatly loving Your children (John 1:12) and living in them to give them the power to conquer any sin. Your Word says: No temptation has taken hold of you except what is common to mankind. But God is faithful – He will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you can handle. But with the temptation He will also provide a way of escape, so you will be able to endure it (First Corinthians 10:13). Praise You that the reason Your children can always win against any temptation is because they have Your all powerful Holy Spirit living within them to fight the battle. I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper so He may be with you forever – the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not behold Him or know Him. You know Him, because He abides with you and will be in you (John 14:16-17). You are Awesome! I look forward to praising You for all eternity! In your Yeshua’s holy name and power of resurrection. Amen

The New Master in Messiah
6: 15-16

The new master in Messiah DIG: How is the question in verse 15 another attempt to distort Paul’s teaching on grace? Compare Paul’s analogy of death (6:1-14) with this one about slavery. What is similar and different in the points he makes in each case? What is the cost and benefit of each type of slavery here? How is slavery to Messiah freedom from sin?

REFLECT: We are slaves to the one we obey. How would seeing yourself as a slave to Messiah make a difference in your actions and attitudes this past week? Sin wants to be our master and finds a foothold in the old [sin nature]. How does submission to Yeshua lead to freedom? What one thing can you say “No!” to the old [sin nature] this next week?

Believers have been set free from the slavery of the old [sin nature], to become bond-slaves and to serve a new Master in Yeshua Messiah.

Paul now introduces a new analogy to slavery. Image of the Passover Haggadah is “we were all slaves,” but now we are no longer serving Pharaoh, we are serving Yeshua Messiah. In Exodus 21, after serving seven years, every slave was to be set free. But if he loved his master, he could stay with him, choosing to be a bond-slave for life. The door post was the place of redemption, where the blood of the lamb was smeared. The bond-slave made a public statement that his master had been so good to him that, even though he didn’t have to stay, he wanted to stay. That is the analogy here. He was still a slave, but had a loving Master.¹⁶²

The antagonist (6:15a): In verses 2-14 (to see link click Bu – The New Freedom in Messiah), Paul answered the listener’s question regarding the proposed habitual yieldedness of the believer to the [sin nature], by showing that obedience to it can be broken by the divine nature at the moment of salvation. But the listener comes back with another question. He says in effect, “Well then, since we are under grace, and grace covers all sins, aren’t believers perfectly free to do as they please? What conclusion should we reach? “Let’s go on sinning, because we’re not under legalism (Greek: upo nomon, meaning under something that is not the Torah but a perversion of it, specifically, a perversion that tries to turn it into a set of rules that one can supposedly go through the motions, with neither faith nor love for either God, yet earn a right standing with ADONAI), but under grace” (6:15a)? The doctrine of grace has always been subject to that false charge, which Paul first answered in 6:2. But because the misunderstanding was so common and the issue so critical, he gives the answer again from a slightly different perspective. In 6:1, the present tense is used; but here the aorist tense (Greek past tense) is used. The emphasis here is that just because the believer is no longer under legalism it doesn’t mean that he has the liberty to sin. There is a new compelling deterrent to sin, divine love, produced in the believer’s being which causes him to hate sin and obey the Word of God (Galatians 5:13; John 14:21-24).

The answer (6:15b): Paul gives the same forceful denial he gave in 6:2. Heaven forbid (Hebrew: chalilah, meaning that’s a contradiction, it makes no sense). No way Moshe (6:15b)! The idea is, “No, no, a thousand times no!” The mere suggestion that God’s grace is a license to sin makes no sense. The very purpose of God’s grace is to free mankind from sin. How, then, could grace possibly justify committing periodic acts of sin? Grace not only justifies, but also transforms the life that is saved. A life that gives no evidence of moral or spiritual transformation gives no evidence of salvation.¹⁶³ Faith without actions is dead (James 2:14-26).

The axiom (6:16): Paul answers the question by showing that the believer has changed masters. Don’t you know that if you present yourselves to someone as obedient slaves (Greek: doulos), then, of the one whom you are obeying, you are slaves – whether of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to being made righteous (6:16)? The believer was a slave of Satan before salvation, but since he has been saved, he is a slave of Yeshua Messiah. He is a bond-slave (see the commentary on Deuteronomy Cz – The Hebrew Slave), because he has willingly chosen to follow the Lord. He has changed masters because he has a new nature, a divine nature, and the evil nature which compelled him to serve the devil has had its power over him broken.¹⁶⁴

Throughout this chapter, the [sin nature] is presented as some alien entity that can bring us ultimately to despair (7:24) if we chose to allow it to do so. A similar personification of our [sin nature] can also be found in Jewish sources. For example, “Rabbi Yitzchak said, ‘At first our [sin nature] is like an occasional visitor, then like a guest who stays a while, and finally like the master of the house’ (Genesis Rabbah 22:6; the same thing is attributed to Raba in the Talmud, Sukkah 52b, also compare to James 1:14-15).¹⁶⁵

The popular notion that a person can master his own life and destiny is a delusion that Satan has inflicted upon mankind ever since the Fall. It was by that lie, in fact, that Adam and Eve were drawn into the first sin. Warning against false teachers in the first century who were spreading that lie, Peter declared: Mouthing grandiosities of nothingness, they play on the desires of the old [sin nature], in order to seduce with debaucheries, people who have just begun to escape from those whose way of life is wrong. They promise them freedom, but they themselves are slaves of corruption; for a person is a slave to whatever has defeated him (Second Peter 2:18-19). If we look at things honestly, we can see that we are not independent creatures. We are not, and cannot be free in the sense in which the world defines and values freedom.

Many people resist the claims of Messiah because they are afraid of having to give up their cherished freedoms. But in reality, they have no freedoms to lose. The unsaved person is not free to do good or evil as he chooses. He is bound and enslaved to sin, and the only thing he can do is sin. His only choices have to do with when, how, why and to what degree he will sin. It should be just as self-evident that no one can be the slave of two different masters. As Yeshua said: No one can be slave to two masters; for he will either hate the first and love the second, or scorn the second and be loyal to the first (Matthew 6:24a).

The Bible is crystal clear about how you benefit when you fully surrender your life to God. First you experience peace, next you experience freedom, and then you experience ADONAI’s power in your life. Stubborn temptations and overwhelming problems can be defeated by Messiah when given to Him.

As Joshua approached the biggest battle of his life, he encountered the Commander of ADONAI’s army, the preincarnate Messiah (Joshua 5:14-15). Joshua fell in worship before Him and surrendered his plans. That surrender led to a stunning victory at Jericho. This is the paradox: victory comes through surrender. Surrender doesn’t weaken you; it strengthens you. When you surrender to YHVH, you don’t have fear or surrender to anything else.

Surrendered people are the ones God uses. Ha’Shem chose Mary to be the mother of Yeshua, not because she was the most talented or wealthy or beautiful, but because she was totally surrendered to Him. When the angel Gabriel explained God’s improbable plan, she calmly responded: I am the servant (Greek: doulos) of ADONAI. May it happen to me as you have said (Luke 1:38a CJB). There is nothing more powerful than a surrendered life in the hands of the LORD.

Everybody eventually surrenders to something or someone. If not to YHVH, you will surrender to the opinions or expectations of others, to money, to resentment, to fear, or to your own pride, lusts, and ego. You were designed to worship God – and if you fail to worship Him, you will create other things (idols) to give your life to. You are free to choose what you surrender to, but you are not free from the consequences of that choice. If you don’t surrender to Messiah, you surrender to chaos.

Therefore, surrender is not the best way to live; it’s the only way to live. Nothing else works. All other paths lead to frustration, disappointment, and self-destruction. The Bible says that surrender is the most sensible way to serve God (Romans 12:1 CEV). So, surrendering your life is not a foolish emotional impulse, but a rational, intelligent act, the most sensible thing you can do with your life. Your wisest moments will be when you say yes to God.¹⁶⁶

Dear Great Heavenly Father, How wonderful and wise You are! Knowing that You know always and always want the best for Your children (John 1:12) is a huge encouragement. It is a joy to love and to follow You! Having You as my Father is such a comfort and it brings great peace that You are also my Master to whom I gladly submit my life. I consider myself so fortunate to have You controlling my life. I love thinking about how great You are. You are omniscient and always know how best to handle any problem I might face. You are omnipotent, all powerful, and Your power is always greater than whatever may be happening in my life and in the world.

It brings me peace to remember You are always in control. When wrong has triumphed in a situation, the wrong was not more powerful than You, nor was it sneakier nor did it deceive You. You are always in control. You may be using trials as a polishing tool for Your child (First Peter 1:7). Sometimes it may look like Satan won, as when Messiah was crucified, but God was the one who won big, for it had been God’s plan all along to have the Messiah die as payment for our sins and then rise in victory from the dead on the third day-conquering death! You are such a wise and loving master who never leaves me (Hebrew 13:5) I am so glad to submit to You for You always want the very best for Your children. I love You! In Your holy Son’s name and power of His resurrection. Amen

The New Freedom in Messiah
6: 12-14

The new freedom in Messiah DIG: Is Paul talking about individual sins or our [sin nature]? In what sense are believers under subjection grace? What is the difference between the yoke of Messiah and the yoke of legalism? What is the purpose of the Torah?

REFLECT: Now that you are saved, how do you see things differently? Do you feel like you are under bondage? How free are you? What does “offering your body as a living sacrifice” mean to you? Who do you know that lives under bondage that you could help this week?

We should offer our bodies as a living sacrifice, set apart for God, and not let our [sin nature] reign as king in our mortal bodies.

We have to live in these mortal bodies the rest of our lives on earth. Just as Yeshua carries scars on His hands (the hand in ancient times was measured from the elbow to the tip of the fingers) and feet, sin, even when confessed and forgiven and cleansed by His blood, often leaves an indelible mark. One day we will look upon Messiah’s scars and realize that we participated in putting them there because of our [sin nature].¹⁵⁷

Dear Heavenly Father, How wonderful that You provide the power for us to conquer the [sin nature] in our mortal bodies. I give You great praise that the key to consistent victory is You living within us. Let the word of Messiah dwell in you richly (Colossians 3:15a). As we stay focused on Your love and power, we do not need to worry but rather to pray to You and Your peace will fill us. Do not be anxious about anything – but in everything, by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. And the Shalom of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Messiah Yeshua (Philippians 4:6-7).

Praise You for the great joy to know that You live in all who love and follow You (John 14:16-17, 23). Thank You that You were willing to not only come and suffer a terrible death for our sins (First Peter 3:23) and then go back to heaven (Hebrews 1:3); You also promised to live in and be with those who love You forever (Hebrews 13:5)! I love to meditate on Your word and listen to Your Spirit within me which prepares me to win any temptation battle (Corinthians 10:13). You are wonderful to have within! In Yeshua’s holy name and power of His resurrection. Amen

Therefore, do not let your [sin nature] rule (Greek: basileuo, meaning reign as a king) in your mortal bodies, so that it makes you obey its desires (6:12). The verb is a present imperative with the negative me, which construction forbids the continuance of an action already in motion. So, Paul is saying, “Stop allowing the [sin nature] to reign as king in your mortal body.” The [sin nature] is a dethroned monarch. We have the responsibility of keeping it from mounting the throne of our heart, the place where only the Lord Yeshua should occupy. We are surely able to do this. Our will is free. We have the divine nature and the Ruach Ha’Kodesh to urge us on, and give us the desire and power to refuse the [sin nature] and obey the Word of God. Paul says, “Order your behavior in the sphere of, by means of, the Ruach, and you will not fulfill the desires of the [sin nature].

It is obvious that the [sin nature] can reign as king in our mortal bodies, or else Paul’s warning would be pointless. But it is also obvious that the [sin nature] does not have to reign there, or the warning would be equally pointless. Therefore, he commands: Do not offer any part of yourselves to sin as an instrument for wickedness. On the contrary, yield (Greek: paristemi, means to place beside or near, to present, to put at one’s disposal) yourselves to God as people alive from the dead, and your various parts to God as instruments for righteousness (6:13). Paul does not warn about our [sin nature] reigning in our souls or our spirits, but only reigning in our mortal bodies, because that is the only place in a believer where our [sin nature] can operate.

Paul, later in his letter, laments that it was impossible for him to obey God’s Torah because he had a [sinful nature] that was rebellious. For in my inner self, I delight with God’s Torah; but within me, I see a stubborn “torah,” one that battles with the God’s Torah in my mind and makes me a prisoner of sin’s “torah,” which is operating within me (7:18, 22-23). Here, sin is personified as having, so to speak, organized its own Mount Sinai, and there, given its own “torah” which we find ourselves devotedly obeying as a result of our old [sin nature].¹⁵⁸ He then concludes: What a miserable creature I am! Who will rescue me from this this wrestling match, this body bound for death? Thanks be to God [He will]! – through Yeshua the Messiah, our Lord! To sum it up: with my mind, I am a slave of God’s Torah; but with my old [sin nature], I am a slave of sin’s law (7:24-25).

Dear Wonderful Heavenly Father, Praise You for the glorious riches of the mystery that was hidden for ages and generations, but now has been revealed to His holy ones. God chose to make known to them this glorious mystery regarding the Gentiles – which is Messiah in you, the hope of glory!  (Colossians 1:26-27). How fantastic that Messiah lives in all, Jew and Gentile, who love and follow Him

It is so wonderful to be “In Messiah,” which gives us power over our [sinful nature] now, and for eternity it guarantees our inheritance of living in heaven with God, our Holy Father. Praise You that before the creation of the world You decided to choose to put “Messiah in” all who would love and follow You as their Lord and Savior. He chose us in the Messiah before the foundation of the world, to be holy and blameless before Him in love . . . In Him we also were chosen (Ephesian 1:4 and 11a).  Praise You that our redemption is not by anything we could do, but is “In Messiah”. In Him we have redemption through His blood – the removal of trespasses – in keeping with the richness of His grace (Ephesians 1:7, Colossians 1:20-22). Praise You for sealing Your children with the Ruach Ha’Kodesh. After you heard the message of truth – the Good News of your salvation – and when you put your trust in Him, you were sealed with the promised Ruach Ha’Kodesh (Ephesians 1:13). 

Praise You not only for the power to conquer our [sinful nature] by our living “In Messiah” but also that enables us to inherit heaven. He is the guarantee of our inheritance, until the redemption of His possession – to His glorious praise (Ephesians 1:14, Philippians 3:9)! I rejoice in Your gracious offer of life for all who love and follow You to live/be “In Messiah,” and I choose to listen to the indwelling Ruach Ha’Kodesh and to put to death my [sinful nature]. In Your Holy Yeshua’s name and power of His resurrection. Amen

Therefore, when Paul says: Do not offer any part of yourselves to sin as an instrument for wickedness (6:13a), it is an offer that is by faith . . . moment by moment. Your body will fight against a righteous walk with YHVH until it is brought into submission to God’s will. This means we have to choose, carefully, what we look at, what (and how) we touch, and what we listen to.¹⁵⁹ This is a difficult task in our present society. But we should live our life every day with this in mind. According to Romans 12:1, our bodies should be presented to ADONAI as a sacrifice, living and set apart for God. Sacrifices in the TaNaKh were dead sacrifices. The Lord may ask some of us to die for Him, but He asks all of us to live for Him!¹⁶⁰

When we obey the instructions laid down in these verses, Paul says: the [sin nature] will not have authority over you. Since being saved, you now have a choice whether to sin or not because you are not under legalism but under grace (6:14). Paul had gone into detail about this with the believers in Galatia (see the commentary on Galatians, to see link click Bm – The Torah Became our Guardian to Lead Us to Messiah). The word legalism is literally nomos in the Greek text, and is often translated Torah, as in Matthew 5:17. But here, in this context, it must be rendered legalism because no one alive will be considered righteous on the ground of legalistic observance of Torah commands. What Torah really does is show people how sinful they really are (3:20b). The legalistic observance of Torah commands is actually a perversion of the Torah into a system of rules for earning God’s praise without trusting in YHVH, the giver of the Torah.

Under legalism . . . under grace. The word twice translated under (Greek: upo) means controlled by or in subjection to, and opens the door to a slavery metaphor coming up next (see Bv – The New Master in Messiah). But what sense are we in subjection to grace? In the sense that we have accepted Yeshua’s yoke, which is easy and light to be under (see the commentary on The Life of Christ Ee – Come to Me, All Who are Weary and Burdened, and I Will Give You Rest), in contrast with the yoke of legalism, which is not. As Paul himself said at the Jerusalem Counsel: Why do you challenge Gentile salvation and put God to the test by putting a yoke on the neck of the [Gentile] disciples – which neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear (15:10)? Being under grace, is a subjection which, because of the very nature of grace itself, does not have the usual oppressive characteristics of subjection.

Since the Torah was never intended to be a means of salvation, but as our blueprint for living (see the commentary on Deuteronomy Bk – The Ten Words), we are never to live in subjection to legalism. ADONAI’s children, the people who are in a faith relationship with Him, are, and always have been, under grace.¹⁶¹

Slaves of God
6: 12-23

In the Roman Empire people became slaves in a number of different ways. One way was to be born into a slave family. Another way was to be captured in battle, and still another way was to be forced into slavery if one’s nation was taken over. One final way was if an otherwise free person went into another’s household and acted like a slave. The idea was, “A man is as he does.”¹⁵⁶ It was as if Paul was saying to the believers in Rome, “Since you have been freed from the old [sin nature], don’t act like a slave.” Paul expounds on Yeshua’s saying: No one can have two masters (Mt 6:24). There are only two options: slavery to sin, or slavery to God.The slaves to sin (6:17) get no benefit (6:21), but earn their wages of death (6:23). But when enslaved to righteousness (6:18), eternal life is what one receives as a free gift from ADONAI (6:23). Such slavery is true freedom.

The Application of the Messianic Mikveh
6: 8-11

The application of the Messianic mikveh DIG: Why is it important for believers today, that Messiah was raised from the dead, never to die again? Why doesn’t sin have any authority over us? How and why are we to consider ourselves dead to sin? Why do we have a choice?

REFLECT: When sin suddenly makes its reappearance, do you recognize it, and consider yourself to be dead to it and alive to God? What sin have you died to, that in the past would have been a real temptation? Looking back at your life, how have you become a new creation?

The one death of Messiah was a death to sin; anyone united with Messiah is a new creation
– the old has passed, the new has come.

The argument (6:8-11): In the previous file (to see link click Br – The Significance of the Messianic Mikveh), Paul presented the negative aspect of the surgical operation God performs in the sinner when he believes, namely, the separation between him and his [sin nature]. Now, Paul gives the reader the positive aspect. Now since we died with the Messiah, we trust that we will also live with Him (6:8). That is, all of Messiah’s righteousness was transferred to his spiritual bank account at the moment of salvation. What was true of Messiah becomes true of the believer, minus His deity. Hence, we live by means of Messiah.

We know that the Messiah has been raised from the dead, never to die again. Yeshua raised people from the dead, as did Elijah and Elisha; but the people that they raised from the dead all died again. For example, Lazarus was raised from the dead (see the commentary on The Life of Christ Ia – The Resurrection of Lazarus: The First Sign of Jonah), but later, he died again. Yeshua’s resurrection, however, is the firstfruits of a new creation (First Corinthians 15:20 and 23), in which believers have a share (Second Corinthians 5:17; Galatians 6:15; James 1:18), a new creation from which death has been removed (First Corinthians 15:50-57; Revelation 20:14 and 21:4). The Mekhilta of Rabbi Ishmael in a midrash halakha to the book of Exodus 20:19 says, “If it were possible to do away with the angel of death, I would. But the decree has long ago been decreed. Rabbi Yosi says, ‘It was on this occasion that Isra’el stood before Mount Sinai, on the condition that the angel of death would not rule over them.’ For it said, ‘You are gods (Elohim), etc.’ But you corrupted your conduct, ‘Surely you will die like men’ (Psalm 82:6-7).” But Yeshua has gone beyond this; He has conquered death, so that death has no authority over Him. And because death has no authority over Him, it has no authority over us (6:9).¹⁵²

And because Messiah lives forever, we will live forever with Him. For the death He died, He died to sin once and for all, but the life He lives, He lives to God (6:10). Because death is the penalty of sin (6:23), to break the authority of sin is to break the authority of death. Two extremely important truths should be emphasized here. First, Messiah died to sin. Having lived a perfectly sinless life during His incarnation, Messiah obviously never had the same relationship to sin that every other human being has. Not only did sin never have any authority over Him, but He never committed a single sin.

How then, we wonder, could the Messiah have died to sin? The Bible teaches that He died to the penalty of sin by taking upon Himself the sins of the whole world. Messiah’s death on the cross satisfied every claim of God’s holiness and justice so that Ha’Shem is free to act on behalf of sinners. This is not cheap grace. It was very expensive. It cost God the Father the unspeakable death of His one-and-only Son (John 3:16). Not only that, but Messiah also died to the power of sin, forever breaking its authority over those who belong to Him through faith. Paul assured even the immature and sin-prone believers in Corinth that ADONAI made this sinless man to be a sin offering on our behalf, so that in union with him we might fully share in God’s righteousness (Second Corinthians 5:21).

The second crucial emphasis in 6:10 is that Messiah died to sin once and for all. He achieved a victory that will never need repeating. Day after day the Levitical priest (Hebrew: cohen) stands and performs his religious duties; again and again he offers the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But when this Cohen, Yeshua Messiah, had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, He “sat down at the right hand of God” (Hebrews 10:11-12 quoting Psalm 110:1). Messiah’s sacrifice was better because it removes sin, which the Levitical sacrifices could never do. The B’rit Chadashah went from daily sacrifices to one sacrifice, from many ineffective sacrifices to one perfect sacrifice. These two verses are a series of contrasts – the many priests to the one Priest, the continual standing of the Levitical priests with the sitting down of the Great Priest, the repeated sacrifices with the once-for-all-time sacrifice, and the ineffective sacrifices that only covered sin with the effective sacrifice of Yeshua Messiah that completely removes sin. The Levitical priests always stood because their ministry was never finished. But Yeshua didn’t need to stand up because His work was completed. The Levitical priests, with all their repetition, could never take away sins, however, Yeshua’s one sacrifice took away sins of believers for all time.¹⁵³

Therefore, we are to continually consider ourselves to be dead to our old [sin nature], but alive for God by your union with Him (6:11). Paul isn’t telling us to feel as if we are dead to the old [sin nature], or even to understand it fully, but to act on God’s Word and claim it for ourselves. The Greek word consider (Greek: logizomai, meaning to take into account, to calculate, to estimate). This kind of thinking is faith in action. It is like endorsing a check. If we really believe that the money is in the bank account, we will sign our name to it and collect the money. Continually considering, here, is not merely claiming a promise, but acting on it as a fact. YHVH does not command us to become dead to our old [sin nature]; He tells us that we are dead to it and commands us to act on it.¹⁵⁴ That means that we now have a choice. We can say “No!” to it. But we are also to take into account the fact that we are alive for God, that is, the divine nature has been transferred to our spiritual bank account, so that we now have both the desire and the power to live a holy, separated, life.

Dear Marvelous Heavenly Father, You are so Awesome! Words cannot thank You enough for transferring your divine nature to our spiritual bank account, so that we now have both the desire and the power to live a holy, separated, life. You designed the caterpillar to change from a crawling insect into a beautiful flying butterfly. The body and nature of the creature has totally changed. The butterfly’s nature causes it to fly. It will never go back to being a caterpillar and crawl around to voraciously nibble on leaves.

In a similar, yet quite different way, those who choose to love and follow God as Lord and Savior, are given God’s new nature inside of them. They can fly away from temptation when it knocks for the Ruach ha-Kodesh lives within them and gives them both the desire and the power to live a holy, separated, life. I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper so He may be with you forever – the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not behold Him or know Him. You know Him, because He abides with you and will be in you (John 14:16-17). I praise, love and worship You. In Yeshua’s holy name and power of His resurrection. Amen

Therefore, if anyone is united with the Messiah, they are a new creation – the old has passed; look, what has come is fresh and new (Second Corinthians 5:17)! And the reason why God is totally free to accept us, is because we are so identified with Yeshua Messiah. But there is a difference between our position in Messiah and our experience in the world. Positionally, what God says about us at the moment of salvation (justification) is true, that we have died to our old [sin nature], because of our union with Messiah. Our experience, however, is to continue to grow in our relationship with Messiah, being conformed into the image of Messiah (8:29) for the rest of our lives (sanctification).¹⁵⁵

The Significance of the Messianic Mikveh
6: 3b-7

The significance of the Messianic mikveh DIG: When did the first Messianic mikveh take place? The idea of death is mentioned fifteen times in Chapter 6. How does Messiah’s death and resurrection tie into our relationship with sin? When we stumble, what do we do when we find ourselves listening to the [sin nature] once again? How have we been cleared from sin?

REFLECT: How does God want our bodies? How might knowing this, change how you live your life? What does it mean to practice the teachings of these verses? What do you do when you hear voices from your former life? What specifically will you do this week to count yourself dead to sin but alive in Messiah? If you could bury one thing, what would it be?

We were immersed into Messiah’s death and resurrection, and because He was raised from the dead, likewise, we also will be raised to newness of life.

Shortly after the resurrection of Yeshua, mention is made of what might be called the first “Messianic mikveh.” On the day of Shavu’ot (Pentecost), thousands of Jewish people from all over the world had gathered to celebrate the feast. After the outpouring of the Ruach Ha’Kodesh on the righteous of the TaNaKh (see the commentary on Acts, to see link click Al – The Ruach ha-Kodesh Comes at Shavu’ot), Peter gave his powerful message about the messiahship of Yeshua. The result was that three thousand people were saved. This was the first “Messianic mikveh” because they were immersed into the Body of Messiah by faith.¹⁴⁶

Dear Great Living Father, What joy that we do not have to wait for heaven to fellowship with the one eternal God-the Father, Yeshua and the Ruach Ha’Kodesh. Right now on earth, Your children (John 1:12) can rejoice in Your indwelling us.  I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper so He may be with you forever – the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not behold Him or know Him. You know Him, because He abides with you and will be in you . . . Yeshua answered and said to him: If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word. My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our dwelling with him (John 14:16-17, 23).

I praise and thank You for Your eternal cleansing that you offer to all who will turn from their selfish ways and loving look to you as their Lord and Savior. For if you confess with your mouth that Yeshua is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart it is believed for righteousness, and with the mouth it is confessed for salvation (Romans 10:9-10). I will boldly confess Your name – no matter what trials it brings me for I have been washed by Your blood and rejoice in the joy of spending all eternity praising You in Your holy heaven. For I consider the sufferings of this present time not worthy to be compared with the coming glory to be revealed to us (Romans 8:18). In Yeshua’s holy name and power of His resurrection. Amen

The argument (6:3b): We were not only placed in Messiah by God the Ruach Ha’Kodesh in order that we might share His death and thus be separated from our [sin nature], but we have been immersed into his death (6:3b) in order that we might share in His resurrection, and thus have divine life imparted to us. This Messianic mikveh, therefore, is not by water because water doesn’t have that much power. It is an internal-spiritual mikveh at the moment of salvation, and an outward-physical mikveh, afterwards, which is an outward sign of that inward conviction.

Through immersion into his death, we were buried with Him; so that just as, through the glory of the Father, the Messiah was raised from the dead, likewise we too might live a new life (6:4). The Scriptures make both statements: the God raised Messiah (Romans 6:4 and 8:11; Matthew 16:21, 17:23 26:32) and that Messiah Himself arose (Mark 9:21 and Luke 18:33). In both expressions the act is due to the divine power which is Messiah’s equally with the Father. Yeshua has the power to lay down His life and take it back up again (John 10:18). The newness of life here does not refer to a new quality of experience, but a new quality of life given to the believer. Romans 6 does not deal with the believer’s experience or behavior. Paul deals with that in Chapters 12-16 (see Db – The Mercies of ADONAI). It is because of our union with the death, burial and resurrection of Messiah, that we are dead to our [sin nature]. When He died, we died; when He was buried, we were buried; when He was resurrected, we will be resurrected. So, the reason we are considered dead to our [sin nature] is because we are considered co-crucified with Messiah.

This tremendous spiritual lesson is illustrated in the miracle of the resurrection of Lazarus (see the commentary on The Life of Christ Ia – The Resurrection of Lazarus: The First Sign of Jonah). When Yeshua arrived at Bethany, Lazarus had been in the tomb four days, so there was no question about his death. By the power of His words: Lazarus! Come out! Yeshua raised His friend from the dead. But, when Lazarus appeared at the entrance of the tomb, he was wrapped in grave-clothes. So, Messiah commanded: Unwrap him, and let him go! He had been raised to walk in newness of life. We next see Lazarus reclining with Messiah at a table, in fellowship with Him in John 12:1-2. Dead – raised from the dead – set free to walk in newness of life – fellowshipping with Messiah. All these facts illustrate the spiritual truths of our identification with Messiah as given in Ephesians 2:1-10.¹⁴⁷

The believer’s “willpower” has been made completely free. Before salvation it was not free so far as choosing between good and evil is concerned. It was enslaved to the [sin nature]. But now, our will stands poised between the [sin nature] and the divine nature, with the responsibility to reject the orders of the former and obey the urgings of the latter. To constantly say “No!” to the former, and “Yes!” to the latter becomes a habit, and then victorious living can be achieved. It doesn’t mean that someone may slide-back into sinful actions. That is all part of the sanctification process, being conformed into the image of Messiah (Romans 9:29). But, what do we do if we stumble and listen to the voice of the old [sin nature]? It happens. We’re not perfect. Then, we acknowledge our sins (First John 1:9), get back in the saddle, and start saying “Yes” to the divine nature again.¹⁴⁸

Jewish immersion is total immersion into the water. The rabbis teach that you need at least 120 gallons of living water, like a stream or ocean. But that living water can be dumped into a big swimming pool and then, as the rabbis teach, the whole thing becomes kosher. The kosher helps the non-kosher. A Jewish mikveh is different from a Roman public bath. The Jewish mikveh had two sets of stairs, to walk down into it and then to walk out of it. Why? Because ritually the person was spiritually unclean going down into the water, and if they walked up the same steps, they would, in a sense, re-contaminate themselves. So, they had two sets of stairs. And, as discussed in Leviticus 14 and 15, the mikvah itself was not the spiritual cleansing, it was symbolic of something that had already happened. In addition, infant mikveh was, and is, unheard of. Mikveh always has to have faith.¹⁴⁹

In the 6:1-4, Paul has brought out two major facts. First, that when ADONAI saves a sinner, He separates him from the indwelling [sin nature], and this separation is so effective, that the believer is not compelled to obey it; he has been permanently delivered from its power; second, that YHVH, at the same time, has imparted the divine nature in the believer, which gives him both the desire and the power to do God’s will. Now, in 6:5-11, Paul repeats these great truths in the event that some of his readers may not have caught the full implications as presented in the previous verses.¹⁵⁰

Since we have become united with Him in a death like His, we will also be united with Him in a resurrection like His (6:5). The verb we have become (Greek: ginomai) is in the perfect tense, speaking of a past completed act with continuing consequences. The verb united with (Greek: sumphutos, meaning to grow up together with) speaks of a vibrant union of two people growing up together. The word could be used of congenital twins whose bodies were connected at one point, and whose blood stream flowed through two physical bodies as through one. Likewise, we are now in an entirely new position. The resurrection of Messiah meant a new life for Him. He was no longer limited by His human body, which had been mortal. But then, He had an immortal body. In the same sense, now that we have been co-crucified, co-buried, and co-resurrected, we should also be living a new kind of life.

The [sin nature] is a terrible master, and it finds a willing servant in the human body. But the way we know that we can live a new kind of life is that the [sin nature] has been put to death. We know that our old [sin nature] was put to death on the cross with Him, so that the entire body of our sinful propensities (before being saved) might be destroyed, and we might no longer be enslaved to our [sin nature] (6:6). The verb destroyed (Greek: katargeo, means to make inactive). It is as if Paul was saying, “Before salvation our bodies were used as instruments of unrighteousness; but after salvation, we are to use our bodies as instruments of righteousness (First Corinthians 6:19-20). Our old [sin nature] no longer has any authority over us. We may surrender to it (and we often do). But it has no legal rights over us. It cannot demand our actions anymore.”

For someone who has died has been cleared from sin (6:7). Literally, For the one having died has been justified (or declared innocent) from the sin. The deathbed confession in the Siddur includes the words, “May my death be an atonement for all the sins, iniquities and transgressions of which I have been found guilty against You,” following the pattern of prayer in the Talmud (B’rakhot 60a) and the Mishna (Sanhedrin 6:2). Yoma 86a also speaks of death as “finishing” the punishment for sin and quotes Isaiah 22:14, “Surely this iniquity shall not be atoned for (Hebrew: y’khupar, or covered) until you die.” Paul here is drawing on the Jewish tradition that says an individual’s own death atones for his sin. He applies it by affirming that our union with Messiah, and with His death, means that we have effectively died, and that atones for our sin.¹⁵¹

The Background of the Messianic Mikveh
6: 1-3a

The background of the Messianic mikveh DIG: Why is baptism a scary word for Jews? How does the Jewish mikveh differ from Christian baptism? How does Chapter 6 interpret the word “sin?” Why? What should be the believer’s relationship to sin? What does it mean to be immersed into Messiah’s death? Why doesn’t unlimited grace mean unlimited sin?

REFLECT: What does your relationship to sin look like in your life? How can you choose your divine nature over your sin nature? How can you win the battle of the mind? What examples can you think of where you have chosen your divine nature over your sin nature? How can you help someone else? What areas of your life are you struggling with right now?

The key to interpreting the entire chapter is every time the word “sin” is used as a noun, it refers to the [sin nature] in the believer.

Mikveh is the Jewish immersion. Baptizo is the Greek equivalent for the Hebrew t’vilah, which means to totally immerse. The Hebrew word mikvah comes from the same root word as hope, and there is some word play between the two in Jeremiah 17:13: Hope of Isra’el, ADONAI! All who abandon you will be ashamed, those who leave You will be written in the dust, because they have abandoned ADONAI, the source of living water. Here mikvah is translated hope, and then described as a fountain of living water, which was the requirement for a mikvah . . . natural flowing water.

The Jewish concept of mikveh is different than the Christian observance. Christians believe in one physical baptism after salvation with no need to do it again. It’s like, “Have you been baptized? Yes, I have.” That’s it. That’s all that needs to be done. One time, and you’re covered. But in Judaism there are several mikvah’s. Lepers had a mikvah (Leviticus 14:1-4, 7 and 9), the priests had a mikvah (Leviticus 8 and 16), women have a mikvah (Leviticus 15), and couples have a mikvah before their wedding. In addition, many Jews immerse themselves before Yom Kippur, or a bar or bat mitzvah, or to mark a celebratory event like a graduation, or to signify a new start after an illness, trauma, or loss, or after having gone through a dry period in their lives and want to rededicate themselves.¹³⁹

The antagonist (6:1): As he frequently does, Paul anticipates the major objections of his critics. He knew that some readers would misinterpret his claim that the Torah came into the picture so that the offense would increase; but where sin increased, grace increased more (5:20). They would foolishly accuse him of teaching that sin itself glorifies ADONAI by causing His grace to increase. If that were true, they reasoned, then they were not only free to sin, but were obligated to sin more in order to enable YHVH to expand His grace! People who thought like that merely corrupted the Good News by saying that if salvation is all about Ha’Shem and all about grace, and if God is glorified by the providing of grace, then the sinful heart may be inclined to say, “The more I sin . . . the more grace is provided! Therefore, I should sin even more!” Or as some others falsely put it, “If God delights in justifying the ungodly, as Romans 4:5 clearly states, then the doctrine of grace puts a premium on ungodliness, because it gives God more opportunity to demonstrate His grace.”

To this doctrinal error, Paul replied: What then will we say? Should we continue in sin (Greek: ta ‘amaptia) so that grace may increase (6:1)? The first thing we must settle is regarding the word sin. Does it refer here to specific acts of sin committed by the believer, or to the [sin nature] still within him? A rule of Greek syntax settles the question. The definite article (ta) appears before the word sin (‘amaptia) in the Greek text. Here, the definite article points back to a previously mentioned sin defined in its context. And that reference is sin “ruling” as a king: All this happened so that just as sin (Greek: ta ‘amaptia, meaning, sin nature) “ruled” by means of death, so also grace might rule through causing people to be considered righteous, so that they might have eternal life, through Yeshua the Messiah, our Lord (5:21). Here, in this verse, sin is personified since it “rules” as king. Consequently, ta ‘amaptia can only refer to the [sin nature] still living in the believer. Here is the key to the interpretation of the entire chapter: every time the word sin is used as a noun, it refers to the [sin nature] in the believer. As a result, I will be using the words [sin nature] in brackets to reflect the Greek text.

But the question remains: Should we continually give-in to our [sin nature] so that grace may increase? The word continue (Greek: meno, meaning to remain) is used in the B’rit Chadashah of a person remaining in some one’s house as a guest. It has the idea of fellowship, or even dependence. It is as if Paul were saying, “Should we continue to have the same relationship with our [sin nature] that we had before we were saved? A relationship in which we were fully yielded to, and dependent on, the [sin nature] and all its evil habits?” Therefore, Paul is not talking about specific acts of sin, but the believer’s relationship to his [sin nature].¹⁴⁰

The answer (6:2): Paul now proceeds to deal with his answer to the question of the antagonist: Should we continue in sin so that grace may increase (6:1)? To which he explodes: Heaven forbid (Hebrew: chalilah, meaning that’s a contradiction, it makes no sense)! How can we, who have died to the [sin nature], still live in it (6:2)? For a believer to continually depend upon his [sin nature], and yield to it as if to revert to the same state as before God saved him, is impossible. It’s as if Paul were saying, “How is it possible for such as we, born-again children of God, to do such a thing? It is against our new life in Messiah to habitually yield to the [sin nature].” If anyone is united with the Messiah, he is a new creation — the old has passed; look, what has come is fresh and new (Second Corinthians 15:17)!

We have died to the [sin nature], and death means separation. The Master Surgeon uses His Ruach to cut the believing sinner loose from his [sin nature] at the moment of salvation. From then on, the believer is justified and stands before God as being righteous (see the commentary on The Life of Christ, to see link click Bw – What God Does for Us at the Moment of Faith). The tense of the verb died in 6:2 is aorist, which speaks of a once-and-for-all past action. YHVH has already performed a spiritual operation, separating the believer from his [sin nature]. This surgical operation never needs to be repeated.

But, unfortunately, because of the frailty of mankind, the believer, at times, will yield to the [sin nature], which still resides in our bodies. But the point is . . . we don’t have to. We have a choice! We can hate sin and love righteousness! In addition to this, the Ruach takes-up permanent residence in us and aids us in our battle against our [sin nature], and to live a holy, separated life from the world (First John 2:15-16). It is as if Paul were saying, “How is it possible for such as we, believers, who have been separated once-and-for-all from our [sin nature], to live any longer in its grip.” Yeshua’s death not only frees us from the penalty of the [sin nature], but also from the power of the [sin nature].¹⁴¹

How can you win the battle of the mind? The first thing is to realize that you are in a battle. There is nothing worse than being in a battle, and not knowing that you’re in one. The nature of the battle is presented in Second Corinthians 10:3-5, “For although we live in the world, we do not wage war in a worldly way; because the weapons we use to wage war are not worldly. On the contrary, [we] have God’s power for demolishing strongholds. We demolish arguments and every arrogance that rises itself up against the knowledge of God; we take every thought captive and make it obey the Messiah.” The weapons in this passage are different from the defensive armor described in Ephesians 6. The image present here is similar to an offensive battering ram that is designed to tear down strongholds.

No matter what you are struggling with, you don’t have to remain a victim for the rest of your life. But you have to want to renew your mind. But how? Satan is a liar, and is behind every struggle that you have. If he can get you to believe the lie, you can lose some element of control in your life. Because Satan’s primary weapon is the lie, your defense against him is the truth. Dealing with Satan is not a power encounter; it is a truth encounter. That is why Yeshua said: You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free (John 8:32). Satan’s lie cannot withstand the truth any more than the darkness of night can withstand the light of the rising sun. We are not called to dispel the darkness; we are called to turn on the light.

There are three ways to win the battle of the mind:

First, prepare your mind for action by being transformed (Greek: metamorphis, meaning to be changed) by the renewing of your mind (12:2)? As the caterpillar prepares to become a butterfly, it hangs tight onto a branch as a chrysalis to begin an internal nature change. Consequently, we must hold tight onto God who gives us his Ruach Ha’Kodesh to live within us and to help us win the battle. Our responsibility to win the battle is to renew our mind by filling it with God’s Word and letting the Shalom which comes from Messiah be your heart’s decision-maker, and let the Word of Messiah, in all its richness, live in you (Colossians 3:15a and 16a). As you continue to stockpile your mind with God’s truth, you will equip yourself to recognize Satan’s lies and take them captive.

Second, take every thought captive to obey the Messiah (Second Corinthians 10:5). Evaluate every thought by the truth of God’s Word. Do away with fruitless fantasy. If you tell yourself a lie long enough, you may start to think it is true. Scripture always tells us to use our minds actively, never passively, and direct our thoughts externally, never internally. Satan will seek to bypass your mind, but ADONAI works through it. Don’t even consider tempting, accusing, or lying thoughts. Don’t waste your time, energy, even your life, on negative thoughts. You now have a divine nature, and you can choose the truth, and keep choosing it until it becomes the normal pattern of your life.

Third, turn to YHVH when you are having anxious thoughts. Don’t worry about anything; on the contrary, make your requests known to God by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving (Philippians 4:6). When your thoughts are challenged by the things of the world – the desires of the old [sin nature], the desires of the eyes, and pride of life (First John 2:16), bring them to God in prayer. By doing so, you are acknowledging ADONAI and exposing your thoughts to His truth. Your doublemindedness will dissolve and God’s shalom, passing all understanding, will keep your heart and mind safe in union with Messiah Yeshua Then God’s shalom, passing all understanding, will keep your hearts and minds safe in union with Messiah Yeshua (Philippians 4:7).

Keep your mind and heart focused on eternity by choosing what you meditate on, and by bringing to mind the joy and peace of life in perfect and everlasting heaven. In conclusion, brothers, focus your thoughts on what is true, noble, righteous, pure, lovable or admirable, on some virtue or on something praiseworthy. Keep doing what you have learned and received from me, what you have heard and seen me doing; then the God who gives shalom will be with you (Philippians 4:8-9).¹⁴²

Winning the battle of the mind is a sure victory when ADONAI-Tzva’ot, Commander of heaven’s angelic armies (Joshua 5:13-15; Second Kings 19:31; Psalm 24:10; Second Corinthians 6:18), is followed. Win the mind battle by preparing for battle. First, take every thought captive; second, fill your mind and heart with God’s Word; and third, keep your mind and heart focused on eternity, your citizenship is in heaven (Philippians 3:20) – bringing to mind the joy and peace of life there.

Dear Living Heavenly Father, How wise and wonderful you are! By dying as the Lamb of God (John 1:29), You not only took the death penalty for our sin but you also cleansed us like an eternal mikveh cleansing, giving us your complete and perfect righteousness.  He made the One who knew no sin to become a sin offering on our behalf, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God (Second Corinthians 5:21).This eternal cleansing opened the door so we can have fellowship with our Holy God. It allows those who love/trust/follow Yeshua to enter into your righteous heavenly home. Yeshua said to him: I am the way, the truth, and the life! No one comes to the Father except through Me (John 14:6).

I lovingly choose to thank You with my life for your eternal mikveh which cleanses Your children. Focusing my eyes on the reward of life forever with you in heaven, makes the trials here seem so small. Sometimes on earth there is much pain and hurt, but it will be over soon and all who have undergone your cleansing will live in your holy heaven forever.  For I consider the sufferings of this present time not worthy to be compared with the coming glory to be revealed to us (Romans 8:18). You are our Awesome and Wonderful Father, Amen.

Therefore, don’t let the [sin nature] rule as king in your heart. It is a dethroned monarch. Paul personifies it as a king ruling (5:21). At the moment of your salvation, you sat the Lord Yeshua Messiah on the throne of your heart. And He stays there so long as you are yielded to the Ruach and reject the temptations of the [sin nature]. However, the Adversary is the prince of this world (Ephesians 2:2). He is your enemy, stalking around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour (First Peter 5:8). Later, Paul will say: Do not let the [sin nature] rule in your mortal bodies, so that it makes you obey its desires (6:12). When you yield to the dethroned king for a long enough period of time, the [sin nature] mounts the throne and rules in Messiah’s rightful place. These are cold, hard facts; nevertheless, true to the Word of God. The point is, you don’t have to put the [sin nature] back in control. By His death, Yeshua Messiah has made it possible for you to choose between the divine nature, and the [sin nature].¹⁴³

The argument (6:3a): Paul now proceeds to show us how this choice was made possible. He says that it was brought about when YHVH immersed the believing sinner into Messiah so that he would share with the Lord’s death on the cross. Don’t you know that those of us who have been immersed into Messiah Yeshua (Matthew 3:11; Mark 1:8; Luke 3:16; John 1:33; Acts 1:5, 11:16; First Corinthians 12:13), have been immersed into His death (6:3)? The immersion here is not water immersion because water doesn’t have that much power. The death of our Lord had a two-fold effect on our sin. First, in 3:21 to 5:11 He died with reference to our acts of sin (see Ax – The Universal Solution: Justification). He paid the penalty for us which was demanded: The wages of sin is death (6:23a). And secondly, later in this chapter, Paul declares: Consider yourselves to be dead to the [sin nature] once-and-for-all (6:11). His death brought about a separation between the believing sinner and the [sin nature]. We now have a choice.

The Messianic mikveh refers to the act of God introducing a believing sinner into vital union with Messiah (so what is true of Messiah is true of the believer, minus His deity), in order that the believing sinner might have the power of his [sinful nature] broken, and the divine nature implanted through his identification with the death, burial, and resurrection of Messiah, thus changing him, and bringing him into the Kingdom of God.¹⁴⁴

The mikvah ceremony is simple yet powerful. A wonderful part of the event can be having the immersed person share a personal testimony of how they found Messiah. A mikvah can take place at any time, but many Messianic congregations observe it at two special times of the year. On the afternoon of Rosh Ha’Shanah, there is a ceremony of repentance called Tashlikh that takes place in a body of water. This is the perfect context for a Messianic mikvah. The second mikvah takes place shortly after Pesach (Passover), as believers reflect on their redemption. Appropriate scripture readings and music can also enhance this joyful time. As the people are immersed, the traditional blessings can be recited with some Messianic adaptations:

Barukh atah ADONAI, eloheynu melekh ha’olam, asher kidshanu b’mitzvotav v’tzivanu al ha-t’vilah. B’shem Ha’Av, Yeshua Ha’Mashiakh v’Ruakh Ha’Kodesh.

Blessed are You, O Lord our God, King of the universe who has sanctified us by His commandments and commanded us concerning the immersion. In the name of YHVH the Father, Yeshua the Messiah, and the Ruach Ha’Kodesh.¹⁴⁵

The Messianic Mikveh
6: 1-11

Like a skillful Jewish lawyer building an airtight case, Rabbi Sha’ul has been laying out the remarkable facts of the Good News. After an extensive discussion of our sin nature and our inability to please YHVH, Paul announced the doctrine of justification, which is Ha’Shem’s one-time declaring believing sinners as righteous. Now, Paul moves to the subject of our holiness, or our sanctification, which is living in obedience to God’s Word through the power of the Ruach Ha’Kodesh. In short, Sha’ul sets out to demonstrate the practical ramifications of salvation for those who have been justified. The mikveh is a bath used for the purpose of ritual immersion in Judaism to achieve ritual purity. Immersed fully, one is like the fetus in the womb, and coming up out of the water, it is as if one is born again. As Yeshua Himself said: Whoever puts his trust in Me, as the Scripture says, rivers of living water will flow from his innermost being (John 7:38). So here, Paul specifically begins a lengthy discussion on the doctrine of sanctification, or cleansing, which is the process of becoming holy in Messiah, a process in which we participate with God.

In Chapter 6, Paul is not talking about what kind of life a believer should have, but how he should live that life. Therefore, this chapter doesn’t deal with the experience or behavior. Paul deals with that in Chapters 12-16 (see Db – The Mercies of ADONAI). This chapter deals with how believers can live a holy, separated life, separated from their [sin nature], and no longer compelled to obey it. It must be remembered, however, that every believer falls short of the godly standard of these verses. We are all being conformed or molded, if you will, into the likeness of Messiah (8:29). But some of us need more molding than others.

The Comparison to Adam
5: 18-21

The comparison to Adam DIG: Make a list of the comparisons between Adam and Yeshua. What surprises you? What doesn’t? From 5:1-21, what do you see that God has done for you through Yeshua Messiah? How does this help you understand the meaning of God’s grace in verses 1, 15, 17, 20 and 21? How does this chapter illustrate why “Grace and peace to you” (1:7), is especially meaningful to believers? Why was the Torah given?

REFLECT: When your “First Adam” is in conflict with your “Second Adam,” what can you do (see First John 1:9)? How is Messiah the “first fruits” of more to come? If you have been declared righteous by God at the moment of faith, why do you still sin? Does your obedience to Messiah have to be perfect? Or should it characterize your life? Why is that important to you? Are you secure in the knowledge that you are eternally saved by Messiah’s blood?

Adam lit the forest fire that devastated the entire human race; however, Messiah not only put it out, but planted a new forest, an eternal one, for all who will receive His gracious gift.

Summary conclusion: In these verses, Paul concludes his analogy between Adam and Messiah which began in 5:12. In other words, just as it was through one offence that all people came under condemnation, so also it is through one righteous act that all [believers] come to be considered righteous (5:18). Paul’s primary teaching here is that the essence of Adam’s sin was disobedience, whereas the essence of Messiah’s sacrifice was obedience. When God commanded Adam not to eat of the forbidden fruit, Adam disobeyed and brought death. When YHVH sent His one-and-only Son into the world to suffer and die, the Son obeyed and brought life.¹³⁶

Adam in Genesis is the First Adam, and Messiah is the Last Adam. The TaNaKh says: The first “Adam,” became a living human being; but the last “Adam” has become a life-giving spirit (First Corinthians 15:45). Adam was created with a natural body. It was not glorified, but it was perfect and good in every way (Genesis 1:31). Adam and Eve originally were in a probationary period. Had they proved faithful rather than disobedient, their bodies would have become glorified and immortalized by eating the fruit of the tree of life, which they could have eaten (Genesis 2:9). Because they sinned, however, they were put out of the Garden lest they eat of the tree of life and live forever in a state of sin (Genesis 3:22).

The last “Adam,” however, became a life-giving spirit. The last “Adam,” is Yeshua Messiah. For just as through the disobedience (Greek: parakoe, this is one of the nine words for sin in the B’rit Chadashah) of the one man, Adam’s first act of sin, which plunged the entire human race into sin with its accompanying ruin and misery. Through the first “Adam,” we have inherited our natural, sinful bodies; however, through Messiah, we will inherit spiritual bodies in the first resurrection (see the commentary on Revelation, to see link click Ff – Blessed and Holy are Those Who Have Part in the First Resurrection).

Adam’s was a prototype of our natural bodies, whereas Messiah’s was the prototype of our spiritual bodies. All the descendants of Adam have natural bodies, and all the descendants of Messiah will have spiritual bodies. Messiah’s resurrection, therefore, was the prototype of all subsequent resurrection.¹³⁷ Yeshua is the first fruits of more to come (see the commentary on Leviticus Ea – Resheet).

So also, through the obedience of the other man, many will be made, or declared, righteous (5:19, also see 1:17). Adam’s disobedience caused him and his descendants to be made sinners by nature and make-up. In the same way, but with the exact opposite effect, Messiah’s obedience causes those who trust in Him to be made righteous by nature and make-up.

From beginning to end, Yeshua’s earthly life was characterized by perfect obedience to His heavenly Father. Even at the age of twelve, He reminded His parents that He had to be about His Father’s business (see the commentary on The Life of Christ Ba – The Boy Jesus at the Temple). Yeshua’s sole purpose on earth was to do His Father’s will (John 4:34, 5:30, 6:38; Matthew 26:39 and 42). In His incarnation: He humbled Himself to becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on the cross (Philippians 2:8).

Dear Great and Loving Heavenly Father, You are Awesome! Praise You, that You adopt as Your own children those who love and trust You. Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God (John 1:12). How comforting that those who love You, You love back and they belong to You. See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God (First John 3:1a)! You live within and help and guide in all areas of the lives of those who love You.  If you love me, keep my commands.  And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever – the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept Him, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him. But you know Him, for He lives with you and will be in you (John 14:15-17).

Praise You for cleansing those who love You by giving them the perfect righteousness of Yeshua Your Son thru His perfect life, death and resurrection. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God (Second Corinthians 5:21). To have the Jewish Messiah of the world living right inside of those who love Him is fantastic! How special to have the most wonderful of friends to be right with us. Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them (John 14:21 NIV). I love You Father, Yeshua Messiah, Ruach Ha’Kodesh! In the name of Yeshua and the power of His resurrection. Amen

The person who genuinely belongs to Yeshua Messiah will reflect that same spirit of obedience, because he has Messiah’s own life within him. When a person places his trust/faith/belief in Messiah, he not only is declared righteous legally, but is actually made righteous, that is, given an inward righteousness that must, and will, bear spiritual fruit. As long as a believer is in the flesh, he will have shortcomings and weaknesses of the flesh, and his righteousness will not be expressed perfectly. But if a person’s life is characterized by sin and shows no fruit of the Ruach (see the commentary on Galatians Bv – Walk by the Ruach, and Not the Desires of the Flesh), that person has no legitimate claim on Messiah. People who are made righteous by Messiah, live righteously.¹³⁸

Contrast between Torah and grace: And the Torah came into the picture so that the offence would proliferate; but where sin proliferated, grace proliferated even more (5:20). One of the reasons YHVH gave the Torah was to cause us to sin more (see the commentary on Exodus Dh – Moses and the Torah). No matter how great our sin becomes, God’s grace overflows beyond it and abundantly exceeds it. No wonder Paul wrote that God’s grace is enough for us (Second Corinthians 12:9a). The Torah has never been a means of salvation during any Dispensation. Paul has already declared that Abraham was righteous completely apart from any good works he accomplished, and several years before he was circumcised and centuries before the Torah was given by Moshe (see Be – The Sign of Justification).

All this happened so that just as sin (Greek: a ‘amaptia, meaning, sin nature) ruled by means of death, so also grace might rule through causing people to be considered righteous, so that they might have eternal life (see the commentary on The Life of Christ Ms – The Eternal Security of the Believer), through Yeshua the Messiah, our Lord (5:21). Here, at the end of Chapter 5, we see our [sin nature] being personified, since it reigns as king. Thus, two realms or kingdoms are spelled out. No middle ground is given. This prepares us for our look at Chapter six, and how we, as believers, can live a holy separated life, disengaged from our [sin nature], no longer compelled to obey it.

The Contrast to Adam
5: 15-17

The contrast to Adam DIG: What is the first contrast? What does Paul mean when he says, “The free gift is not like the offense?” What is the second contrast? What two practical truths does Paul teach us there? What is the third contrast? What is the desired result?

REFLECT: Victory over sin doesn’t mean that we never sin again. It means that now we have a choice not to sin? How have your choices been lately? Make a list of the contrasts between Adam and Yeshua. What surprises you? What doesn’t? How are you living to the fullest?

In Adam, all eternally die; so also in Messiah, all shall eternally live.

Paul continues his analogy of Adam and Messiah, showing how the life that was made possible for all mankind by Yeshua’s atoning sacrifice is contrasted by the death that was made inevitable for all mankind by Adam’s sin. It is the truth that the apostle summarized: For as in Adam all die, so also in Messiah all shall be made alive (First Corinthians 15:22). Just as one man’s disobedience brought sin to all mankind, so the one man, Yeshua Messiah’s act of obedience to the Father, made salvation available to all mankind.

Contrast between the offense and the free gift: The first contrast is clearly stated as being between the free gift of Messiah and the offense (Greek: paraptoma, meaning false step) of Adam. But the free gift is not like the offense. For if, because of the one man’s offense, many died physically and spiritually. By eating of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, Adam took a false step and fell headlong into sin. And instead of becoming more like God, as the Adversary had promised (Genesis 3:5), mankind became alienated from his Creator, and distant from Him. Instead of bringing mankind into the kingdom of God, Adam’s false step delivered him and all his descendants to the kingdom of Satan.

The heart of Paul’s comparison, however, is the Messiah’s one act of salvation had immeasurably greater impact than Adam’s one act of damnation. Then how much more has God’s grace, that is, the gracious gift of eternal life by the one man, Yeshua the Messiah, overflowed to many (5:15)! Condemnation through Adam is inescapable. But alongside condemnation, or judgment, there is God’s grace, which not only has the power to cancel the effects of Adam’s false step, but to create, positively, life and peace.¹³² Messiah not only reversed the curse of death by forgiving and cleansing from sin, but provided the way for redeemed mankind to share in the full righteousness and glory of ADONAI. God’s grace is greater than the sin of mankind. Not only is it greater than the one original sin of Adam that brought death to all mankind, but it is greater than all the accumulated sins that mankind has ever, or ever will, commit.

Yeshua Messiah broke the power of sin and death, but the opposite is not true. Sin and death cannot break the power of Yeshua Messiah. The punishment of Adam’s sin is reversible, but the redemption of Yeshua Messiah is not. The effect of Adam’s act is permanent if not reversed by Messiah. The effect of Messiah’s one act on the cross, however, is permanent for those who believe, and not subject to reversal. We have the great assurance that once we are in Messiah (Ephesians 1:1-23), we are in Him forever (see the commentary on The Life of Christ, to see link click Ms – The Eternal Security of the Believer).¹³³

Contrast between condemnation and justification: The second contrast between the one act of Adam and the one act of Messiah is in regard to extent. In that regard, Messiah’s justification is greater than Adam’s condemnation. No, the free gift is not like what resulted from one man’s sinning; for from one sinner came judgment that brought condemnation; but the free gift came after many offenses and brought acquittal, not merely restoration, but justification (5:16). That one single sin should be answered in judgment is perfectly understandable, but that the accumulated sins and guilt of all mankind for all the ages should be answered by God’s free gift is the miracle of miracles, utterly beyond our understanding.¹³⁴

Dear wise and Loving Heavenly Father, Praise You for in your Almighty wisdom and power, by offering Yeshua as the Lamb of God (John 1:29) as our sin offering, You not only took away the condemnation that our sin brought – but You also opened the door to reconciliation with You. He made the One who knew no sin to become a sin offering on our behalf, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God (Second Corinthians 5:21). Wow! Not only did You take our punishment; but You also gave Your righteousness to those who love You so they can have fellowship with You. Jesus replied: Anyone who loves me will obey My teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them (John 14:23 NIV).

I am so grateful for Your great love that You offer to all who will choose to love and follow You. I want to live my life to please and to praise You. I offer up to You my heart full of love. Your love for me is totally secure and nothing can separate me from Your love. Who shall separate us from the love of Messiah? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? . . .  No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.  For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Messiah Yeshua our Lord (Romans 8: 35, 37-39). Also secure is my love for You. Neither troubles nor pandemics will be able to cause me to take my eyes off of how wonderful You are! When problems come, I will focus on eternity and the joy of living with You forever in heaven. I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us (Romans 8:18). Though trials may seem to last a long time, they are but a blink of an eye compared to the eternal joy of living forever with You in my future home in heaven (John 14:1-3). I delight in worshiping and praising You! In Your holy son Yeshua’s name and power of His resurrection. Amen

This verse contains two very practical truths that are closely related. The first is that YHVH hates sin so much that it took only one sin to condemn the entire human race and separate them from Him. It was not that Adam’s first sin was worse than all the others he committed or worse than others have committed since. It was simply that his first sin was sin. At the time, eating the forbidden fruit was the only sin Adam and Eve could have committed, because Ha’Shem had placed but one restriction on them. But had it been possible, any other sin would have had the same effect. In the same way, any sin that any person has ever committed would be sufficient to damn the whole human race, just as Adam’s one sin did.

The other truth is that it is more amazing and inconceivable, and is as uplifting as the first is sobering. Greater even than God’s hatred of sin is His love for the sinner. Despite the fact that YHVH hates sin so much that any one sin could damn the entire human race, His loving grace toward mankind is so great that He provides, not only for the redemption of one person for one sin, but for the redemption of all mankind for all sins. Messiah took upon Himself the sins of the whole world. God was in Messiah reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their sins against them (Second Corinthians 5:19 NASB).¹³⁵

Contrast between life and death: The third contrast between the one act of Adam and the one act of Messiah is in regard to efficacy, or producing the desired result. For if, because of the offense of one man, death ruled through that one man; how much more will those receiving the overflowing grace, that is, the gift of being considered righteous, rule in life through the one man Yeshua the Messiah (Romans 5:17; Genesis 2:17, 3:6 and 19)! It has been established that Adam’s one act of sin brought condemnation to the entire human race. But that was hardly the intent of sin. Neither Adam or Eve sinned because they wanted to die. They sinned because they expected to become like God (Genesis 3:5). Their sin produced the very opposite result from which they desired. As noted above, instead of becoming more like God, they became more unlike Him.

The one act of the one man, Yeshua Messiah, however, provided the desired result. The one-dimensional result of Adam’s one act was death because the wages of sin is death (6:23). Whereas the result of Messiah’s one act is life, which is multidimensional. Yeshua not only offers life, but abundant life: The thief comes only in order to steal, kill and destroy; but I have come so they may have life, life in its fullest measure (John 10:10). Believers not only receive life in its fullest measure, but are justified, being considered righteous as a gift, “God made this sinless Man to be a sin offering on our behalf, so that in union with Him we might fully share in God’s righteousness” (Second Corinthians 5:21).

To rule in life through Messiah is also to have power over sin. Later in Romans, Paul will say: By God’s grace, you, who were once slaves to sin, obeyed from your heart the pattern of teaching to which you were exposed; and after you had been set free from sin, you became enslaved to righteousness (6:17-18). As believers, we know from experience, as well as from Scripture, that we are still infected with the disease of sin, and still clothed in the sinful rags of our old nature (Ephesians 4:22). But sin is no longer our master. In Messiah, we are no longer victims of sin, but victors over sin. Thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Yeshua Messiah (First Corinthians 15:57).

The Consequences of Adam
5: 12-14

The consequences of Adam DIG: What is the logic behind the “bad news” in these verses? What is “The Fall?” What is “original sin?” How could what one man did at one time in history have such an absolute effect on mankind? If Eve ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil first, why does the Bible say that “Sin entered the world through one man?” Who was the First Adam? Who was the Last Adam? What is the age of accountability?

REFLECT: When have you made a decision that affected others in a bad way? How does that help you understand verse 12? Does the message of the Good News excite you the way it does Paul? Why? Why not? What could help you regain its life and vitality once again? Why is it important to you to understand that all of mankind fell with the First Adam? How have the consequences of Adam’s sin affected you? How has Messiah rescued you?

Modern Judaism says you are a sinner because you commit acts of sin; but the B’rit Chadashah says you commit acts of sin because you are a sinner.

There was no sin in the Garden of Eden. It was a perfect environment, and Adam and Eve were free to live in perfect happiness, having fellowship with YHVH, and with each other. They were capable of perfect obedience. How long they enjoyed this Dispensation (see the commentary on Genesis, to see link click Ap – The Dispensations of God: The Dispensation of Innocence or Freedom) is unknown. Paul explains the sequence of events at the point where sin entered their lives as the consequence of their action. This is what we refer to as “The Fall” (see the commentary on Genesis Ay – The Fall of Man), the historical event when Adam and Eve sinned, and death, both spiritual and physical, entered the human race. This is also referred to as “original sin” – original because it was the very first sin. The entrance of sin into life on earth created an immediate need for a new approach to Ha’Shem, who knew no sin. God began to make a way for sinners to be received into His holy Kingdom through grace.¹²⁶

These verses reach back in Romans where the subject of total depravity was first discussed (see Aw – The Religious Jew’s Lack of Understanding: The verdict). After describing the appalling sin and lostness of mankind (see Aj – The Universal Need of Mankind), Paul has revealed how Messiah, by His death on the cross, provided the way of salvation for everyone who comes to ADONAI in faith (see Ax – The Universal Solution: Justification). The inevitable question that then arises is, “How could what one man did at one time in history have such an absolute effect on mankind?” Paul now shows in this passage that sin and death come from the First Adam, and righteousness and life come from the Second Adam.

God gave Adam the power of attorney to act for the entire human race. We are participants in Adam’s sin, and therefore, guilty of that same sin. We have all become sinners because we have inherited the sin nature that has been passed down from Adam. Sin infected everyone; therefore, we are all born with the terminal disease of sin.

Sin entered the world through one man (5:12a): Therefore, sin was imputed, or transferred to another’s spiritual bank account, through one individual. The word therefore connects what follows with what has just been stated, namely as believers we have been declared righteous by the sacrifice of Yeshua Messiah (see Bj – The Restoration of Justification). Now, Paul begins the analogy of Messiah with Adam, the common principle being that, in each case, a far-reaching effect on countless others was generated through one man.

In the case of Adam, it was through one man that sin entered (the Greek aorist tense: eiselthen) the world. The Greek aorist tense, referring to a single past action, occurs in all three verbs in verse 12. It is important to note that Paul does not say that sin originated with Adam, but only that sin in the world began with Adam. Sin originated with the Adversary, who from the very beginning, has kept on sinning (First John 3:8).

It was through one man that sin entered the world (5:12a). The writer to the Hebrews knew that his Jewish audience would understand this concept, when he wrote about the tithes Levi paid to Melchizedek. And it is beyond all dispute that the one who blesses has higher status than the one who receives the blessing. Moreover, in the case of the priests, the tenth is received by men who die; while in the case of Melchizedek, it is received by someone who is testified to be still alive. One might go even further and say that Levi, who himself receives tenths, paid a tenth through Abraham; inasmuch as he was still in his ancestor Avraham’s body when Melchizedek met him (Hebrews 7:8-10). In other words, although Melchizedek lived many years before Levi (the father of the priestly tribe) was born, along with all the other descendents of Abraham, Levi being in the seed of Abraham’s body, shared in the tithe paid to the ancient king.

In the same way, although with enormously greater consequences, the sin of Adam was passed on to all of his descendants. When he sinned in the Garden of Eden, he sinned not only as a man, but as mankind. When he and his wife, who were one flesh (Genesis 2:24), sinned against YHVH, all of their descendents – that is, the entire human race in their loins – would share in that sin, the alienation from God, and the subjection to death that were its consequences. In Adam all die, Paul explained to the Corinthians (First Corinthians 15:22). Thus, as far as guilt is concerned, every human being was in the Garden with Adam, actually in the loins of Adam, and shares in the sin he committed there.

The fact that Adam and Eve were not only actual historical figures, but were the original human beings from whom all others have descended, is absolutely critical to Paul’s argument here, and is critical to the effectiveness of the Good News of Yeshua Messiah. If a historical Adam did not represent all mankind in sinfulness, a historical Messiah could not represent all mankind in righteousness. If all mankind did not fall with the First Adam, all mankind could not be saved by the Second, and last, Adam (First Corinthians 15:20-22, 45). In other words, all of Adam’s sin was transferred to us when he was lost, and all of Messiah’s righteousness is transferred to us when we are saved.¹²⁷

Death entered the world through sin (5:12b): The second element of Paul’s argument is that because sin entered the world through one man, so also death, the consequence of sin (6:23), spread (Greek aorist tense: dielthen) to the world through that one man’s sin (5:12b). YHVH didn’t create Adam as a mortal being, that is, subject to death. But He explicitly warned Adam that disobedience by eating of the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil would make him subject to death (Genesis 2:17). And contrary to the lie of the Adversary (Genesis 3:4), that was exactly what happened. Death is the unfailing fruit of the poison that entered Adam’s heart and the heart of every one of his descendants. Later, Paul will expound on this verse and say: Because of the offense of one man, death ruled through that one man (5:17a), and because of the disobedience of the one man, Adam, many were made sinners (5:19a).

Sin brings spiritual separation from God, which Adam experienced immediately after his disobedience. Physical separation from human beings. Although Adam did not immediately lose his physical life, he became subject to death the moment he sinned. Physical death will bring to an end the opportunity for salvation. The third kind of separation not only brings separation from God, but brings eternal torment in hell (see the commentary on Revelation Fp – The Lake of Fire is the Second Death). The unbeliever has reason to fear all three deaths. Spiritual death prevents his earthly joy; physical death will bring an end for the opportunity to be saved, and eternal death will bring everlasting punishment. But no kind of death should be feared by believers. We are saved forever by Messiah (see the commentary on The Life of Christ Ms – The Eternal Security of the Believer) from spiritual and eternal death, and our physical death (or rapture) will usher us into His divine presence.¹²⁸

Dear Loving Heavenly Father, Praise Your great love that rescued us! Your holiness is fantastic! Your love is a very comforting thought; but Your perfect holiness and my sin creates a distance between us and makes me want to move far away from You. How thankful I am that You Yourself opened the door to heaven by providing the path for forgiveness for all who would choose to love and to follow You as Lord and Savior. He made the One who knew no sin to become a sin offering on our behalf, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God (Second Corinthians 5:21). Thank You! I bow in worship of You. In Your holy Yeshua’s name and power of His resurrection. Amen

Death spread to all mankind because all sinned (5:12c): The last clause in verse 12 tells us that we were involved in some way in Adam’s sin. In other words, it was in some sense our sin. And because Adam’s sin was imputed to us at conception, we sinned, and as such, each of us deserved to die. As Ezeki’el says: The person who sins is the one that will die (Ezeki’el 18:20). And in this way death passed through to the whole human race, inasmuch as everyone sinned through Adam (5:12c). The verb sinned (Greek aorist tense: emarton) refers to a single past action . . . Adam’s sin. Had Paul intended to refer to a continued process of sin, and not Adam’s sin, the present and imperfect tenses were available to him. But he chose the aorist tense, and it should be taken at face value. Indeed, if we regard the sin of all mankind and the sin of Adam as one-and-the-same, verses 12 and verses 15 and 17 dove-tail together nicely.

The status of miscarriages, babies and infants needs to be addressed. If the reasoning that precedes is correct, then all begin life with both a corrupted nature and the guilt that are the consequences of sin. Does this mean that should these little ones die before making a conscious decision to receive the overflowing grace, that is, the gift of being considered righteous (5:17), that they are lost and condemned to eternal death? No, heaven forbid! Indeed, our Lord did not regard them as basically sinful and guilty. He held them up as an example of the type of person who will inherit the Kingdom: Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of Heaven (Matthew 18:3). In addition, David had confidence that he would again see his child that had died (see the commentary on the Life of David De – David’s Son Dies).

The Bible teaches that there is an age of accountability for each person. King Ahaz needed something that would serve as a sign that Isaiah’s prophecy that he would not be dethroned would take place in his lifetime. When Isaiah went to meet the king, he prophesied that his son, Shear-Jashub was a sign to king Ahaz. He will eat curds and honey until he knows enough to reject the wrong and choose the right. Within about three years, the boy would know the difference between right and wrong, have the ability to make moral choices, and thus be accountable for them. At that time, Isaiah said, the land of Ahaz’s enemies would be laid waste and the northern alliance between Isra’el and Syria would be broken (Isaiah 7:15-16).

We become responsible and guilty when we accept the fact that we have a sin nature. There is a time in the life of each one of us when we become aware of our own tendency toward sin. That is the age where YHVH holds us accountable for our moral decisions. At that point, we may despise the sinful nature that has been there all the time. In that case, we would repent of it and might even, if there is an awareness of the gospel, ask God for forgiveness. At the very least, there would be a rejection of our sinful makeup. But if we submit to that sinful nature, we are, in effect, saying that it is good. In placing our unspoken approval upon it, we would also be approving or agreeing with the action in the Garden of Eden so long ago. As a result, we would become guilty of that sin without having to commit a sin of our own.

There is no condemnation until one reaches the age of accountability. If an embryo, a baby, or a child dies before he or she is capable of making genuine moral decisions, there is only innocence, and the child will experience the same type of future existence with ADONAI as will those who have reached the age of accountability and had their sins forgiven as a result of accepting the offer of salvation based upon Messiah’s atoning death.¹²⁹

The Jewish view is that mankind enters the world free of sin, with a soul that is pure, innocent, and untainted. While there were some Jewish teachers in Talmudic times who believed that death was a punishment brought upon mankind on account of Adam’s sin, the dominant view by far is that man sins because he is not a perfect being, and not because he is inherently sinful. The closest Jews come to a doctrine of original sin, is that since no one is perfect, everyone has “an inclination” to do evil from his youth (Genesis 8:20).

The rabbis teach that babies are born with a yetzer ha’ra, or the “evil inclination,” and later develop a yetzer ha’tov, or the “good inclination.” While still in the womb, the “evil inclination” begins to develop. From birth until 13 years later, nothing hinders the sinning. But at the Bar Mitzvah or Bat Mitzvah, the child’s moral sense has developed sufficiently to hold him or her responsible for their actions. R. Isaac Arama, the fifteenth century Spanish philosopher and commentator, connected this change around Bar Mitzvah or Bat Mitzvah to the well-known beginning of the Mishnaic tractate on the Passover, “For the first thirteen years of life, one rebels, but in the fourteenth year, the light of intelligence appears in him, and then he becomes a bar mitzvah (or son of the covenant), and subject to the punishment of a human court. Similarly, our sages, of blessed memory, hinted at this when they said, ‘On the evening of the fourteenth, we search the hametz [leaven] by the light of a candle’ (Mishnah Pesachim 1:1)” (Sefer Akedat Yitzhak 61).¹³⁰

Eve is not mentioned because Adam was responsible to take care of the Garden (Genesis 2:15), which implies to take care of his wife because Eve was in the Garden (see the commentary on Genesis Lv – I Do Not Permit a Woman to Teach or Have Authority Over a Man, She Must Be Silent).

History proves that death reigns over all mankind (5:13-14): Having made that statement, Paul now sets out to prove it. Sin was indeed present in the world before Torah was given, but sin is not counted as such when there is no Torah (5:13). This shows that Adam’s sin was imputed. They died even though they were not guilty of committing a specific act of sin as given in the Torah. Why? Because they had a sin nature. Nevertheless, death ruled from Adam until Moshe, even over those whose sinning was not exactly like Adam’s violation of a direct command. Because Adam and Eve were evicted from the Garden of Eden after they sinned, they had no more opportunity to disobey God’s single prohibition. They no longer had access to the forbidden fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, nor have any of their descendants. Consequently, it has been impossible for any human being, either before or after Moses, to have sinned exactly like Adam sinned. Which, again, points to the fact that Adam’s sin was imputed, or transferred to our spiritual bank account, at birth.¹³¹

In this, Adam prefigured the one who was to come, but there are very significant differences between the two (5:14). Adam was one man, who committed one act of sin, with one result. But in that one act, he became a type of yet another man. The last Adam, Yeshua Messiah. He was one man, committing one act, with one result. Next, Paul brings out the contrast between Adam and Messiah.