This is what is taught today. "We died to sin." Our sins, past, present, and future were forgiven on the cross of Calvary. How can we be charged with sin? We have been accepted in the Beloved. God has pronounced "righteous." That is the end of it.

Given this interpretation, that sin no longer can affect our salvation, given the demonic environment in which we are attempting to survive, given the lusts and passions of our flesh and soul, you can be certain the believers are going to continue in sin.

We do not want to sin. We want to be like Jesus. We want to please Jesus. We desire to prove our love for Him by living righteously. And then we are seduced into sinning.

Christ gave us commandments. His Apostles gave us commandments. But the main purpose of the commandments of the New Testament is to show us we need to be forgiven by God's grace. This is the wretchedness that is preached today—a wretchedness that makes the Word of God a welter of confusion.

Of course we are to keep the commandments written in the New Testament! The Holy Spirit will assist us.

If ever there was a doctrine designed to destroy the Christian people, it is the interpretation of "we died to sin" to mean we are righteous no matter how we behave because we have been saved by grace and not by works of righteousness we have done (to quote Paul in another passage).

I guess if we want to make an excuse for our sinning, we can find that excuse in the Bible. Isn't that a fact?

But let's look at how the meaning of "we died to sin" works out as Paul's argument develops. If we are to understand any part of Chapters Six through Eight of the Book of Romans, we have to view the three chapters as one whole.

In order to understand the Apostle Paul, it is helpful to keep two thoughts in mind. First, Paul was arguing against teachers who were pressing the need to keep the Law of Moses. "It is fine to accept Jesus Christ as the Christ, but we must keep the Law of Moses if we are to be righteous in the sight of God," they were maintaining.

Paul was not saying we are free from the Law of Moses so we will not be bound by Divine law. Paul taught that we are under a far stricter covenant, in which our body is to be presented to God as a living sacrifice. We are free from Moses so we may be married to Christ. Marriage to Christ is a total covenant, bringing with it demands on our conduct far, far exceed the demands of the Law of Moses.

Second, Paul's goal was the redemption of his body. By this I mean in the Day of Resurrection Paul's body will be raised from the dead and then filled with eternal resurrection life. Paul viewed the redemption of his body as his adoption as a son of God.

To be continued.