Romans 6:1 Free Grace and Sin. In this passage, under cover of a reply to a plausible objection to the doctrine of justification, we really enter upon the discussion of the bearing of gospel faith on moral character. I. To the objection, the plausible but hateful objection, "What then? Are we to p... [ Continue Reading ]
Romans 6:4 Easter Even. I. We know what an impression is made by the sight of a dead body, especially if it is that of one who has been near and dear to us. And every one who has felt this lesson has been for a time, for the moment it may be, or hour, or day, if not longer, a different man. The wo... [ Continue Reading ]
Romans 6:4 Christ's Resurrection an Image of our New Life. Our new life is like that of our risen Saviour I. In the manner of His resurrection. In order to appear to His disciples in that glorified form, which already bore in it the indications of the eternal and immortal glory, it was necessary t... [ Continue Reading ]
Romans 6:5 Assimilation through Faith. I. Among the elements of human character we have really no deeper or more powerful agent for working a great change than faith, if we understand it fairly. The word covers the most entire devotion of heart and will which a man can repose in any person whom he... [ Continue Reading ]
Romans 6:7 I. "For he that hath died," as it should be rendered, "is justified from sin." The moment the Spirit of God works within the human soul a conviction of sin, there springs up an intense longing to obtain rest. With a burning desire no language can portray, far less exaggerate, the soul cri... [ Continue Reading ]
Romans 6:7 Christ's Death to Sin. When we ask what is meant by affirming of Christ, "The death that He died, He died unto sin," two questions emerge. (1) What connection had Jesus with sin before His death? (2) How came His dying to sever that connection? I. As to the former. The connection of t... [ Continue Reading ]
Romans 6:8 I. As a tree cannot live and grow, cannot bear flowers and fruit, and expand itself towards heaven, unless it be first rooted and buried in the ground, so neither can the love of God in the soul, unless that which is earthly be dead and buried with Christ in His death. It is therefore at... [ Continue Reading ]
Romans 6:8 I. The basis of the Apostle's sentiment here is the death of Christ. The death of Christ is the fact. Christ died for our sins. Calvary, its associations, its wonderful mystery and blessedness, were present to the Apostle's mind; and, however progressive spiritually his view might be, he... [ Continue Reading ]
Romans 6:9 Christ Risen, Dieth no More. I. The resurrection brings joy to the human soul because it asserts that which is by no means written legibly for all men on the face of nature and of life the truth that the spiritual is higher than the material; the truth that, in this universe, spirit coun... [ Continue Reading ]
Romans 6:9 I. The death to sin must be a death to its service as well as to its penalty, if the soul has come under that wretched bondage. There is hardly anything more emphatically and clearly laid down throughout St. Paul's epistles than this of the new life which is expected of Christian men, no... [ Continue Reading ]
Romans 6:11 On Realising the Ideal. I. What is the theory of the Christian's condition? As just explained by the Apostle, it is this: The Christian is a man who, like his Master, is already dead to all sin and alive only towards God. He has ceased, in other words, to have anything further to do wi... [ Continue Reading ]
Romans 6:12 The Dual Life of Man. I. There are in every one of us opposing elements, there live within us an Adam and a Christ; the angel has us by the hand or the serpent by the heart. Plato describes human nature as consisting of a threefold being bound into one, a many-headed monster, a lion, a... [ Continue Reading ]
Romans 6:15 Bondmen of Righteousness. I. St. Paul's manner of thinking is frequently hard to follow. One peculiarity which contributes to make it a difficult exercise to track his reasoning is this: on the threshold of a fresh train of ideas, when the subject which fills his mind has been no more t... [ Continue Reading ]
Romans 6:18 The Strictness of the Law of Christ. I. Religion is a necessary service; of course it is a privilege too, but it becomes more and more of a privilege the more we exercise ourselves in it. The perfect Christian state is that in which our duty and our pleasure are the same, when what is... [ Continue Reading ]
Romans 6:23 The Choice of Life. I. St. Paul is setting before us in a figure the choice of two lives the life of a Christian, life in Christ, and the life of one who is not a Christian, who has not the Christian's aim nor the Christian's hope. He is setting this before us in a figure; and it is, on... [ Continue Reading ]