We Shall Reign "In Christ" by Grace
RO60-02

© Berean Memorial Church of Irving, Texas, Inc. (1977)

The universality of death has been our subject now for several sessions, and our text has been Romans 5:12-21. We are now at verse 17.

The Imputation of Adam's Sin

Verse 17 is closing an explanatory set of parentheses which the apostle Paul began in verse 13 to clarify his statement in verse 12 – how all mankind sinned in Adam. The imputation of Adam's guilt to all of us has brought physical and spiritual death upon us. All this condition of spiritual death means that no one is able to produce any divine good works in order to secure salvation. Consequently, it is impossible for a human being to do anything to be saved. This is the line of reasoning that Paul is trying to lay out for us. The whole world thinks that their good works are going to outweigh their bad works, and that's how God deals with us.

Spiritual Death

This condition of spiritual death means that no one is capable of producing divine good works. You have to be spiritually alive to produce divine good. And only divine good secures salvation.

Mormonism

The Mormons make a very, very grievous mistake here in rejecting this principle that we are dead because of Adam's sin. The reason they do that, of course, is because they have a plan of salvation which is based on human works. Therefore, if they accept the fact that we are totally contaminated by Adam's sin, and incapable of producing any good works that God accepts, then their whole system collapses. So, it is critical to these human works systems to reject the idea that through this one man, we are all guilty, and therefore we die.

Death Reigned

Verse 17 declares that Adam's original sin caused death to reign as king over all mankind: "For if by one man's offense (one man stepping out of line – that man being Adam), death (spiritual and physical) reigned as king by that one man." Therefore, death stalks us all daily, and it's ready to pounce upon us unexpectedly. We find from the Bible that death is controlled by Satan in order to hold mankind under a reign of terror. People try in many useless ways to neutralize their fears of death, and their helplessness in the face of death.

Still, most people are not ready to meet death when it pounces upon them. They're struck with terror when they realize that they are about to face the living God beyond the grave. They're struck with terror when they know that now there is no way out, and that this is it. They're going to be over the other side in just a short time, and they're going to face that God.

Well, people do have a ground, indeed, for being fearful of death. Unbelievers; religious people; church people; and, those who are unsaved in one capacity or another, all have a good ground for being in terror of death. You're well acquainted with the passage in Luke 16:23-24 which describes for us the agony in which the rich man found himself when he was in the compartment of Hades known as torments – the place that all the unsaved went to. Whereas, the other compartment, known as Abraham's Bosom (or Paradise) was the place where the saved went to, and where Lazarus and Abraham were at the time.

The Unsaved Dead Suffer

Let me remind you of a few things. Notice, first of all, unbelievers have cause to be in terror of death because the unsaved dead suffer. They suffer, and they feel it, and it's painful. On other passages in the Bible tell us that it's so painful that they gnash their teeth in the agony, and their tears never cease flowing. It is a place of great agony.

The Unsaved Dead are Conscious

You will also notice in verses 23-24 that the unsaved dead are fully conscious of their state. There are many people who try to meet the terror of death with the illusion that when they die, it's all over. They've lost consciousness. They're just rubbed out of existence. You are fully conscious of your state when you go across the line through death.

The Unsaved Dead can Remember their Earth Life

Verse 25 tells us that the dead can remember their earth life. That can be painful in many ways. It's going to be particularly painful for the unsaved such that they can remember their earth life. And one of the things that they will remember is the chance and the opportunity that they had to accept Jesus Christ – the chance and the opportunity that they had to learn that God's plan is grace with no words or rituals: take it, or leave it. The unsaved dead remember their earth life.

The Unsaved Dead cannot be Comforted

Notice verse 26. No one can in any way comfort the unsaved dead in their agony. No one can comfort the unseen dead in their agony. I don't care how many prayers you say for Pope John Paul, you are not going to comfort him in the agonies of the hell that he probably is in because he is in a system, and if he is true to his system, there's no place else but hell that he could be– pope, or no pope. His system says, "Heaven is achieved by my human effort works." If that's the kind of salvation he trusted in, you know where the pope is today. And nobody can comfort him. Your prayers, and nothing the living can do in any way, is going to change that.

The Unsaved Dead cannot Leave the Place of Torments

You also notice in verse 26 that there's no possibility of the unsaved dead leaving the place of torments. You cannot leave it. Once you are in the place of judgment, you can never return. All these systems of human works salvation, such as the Mormon system that we looked at recently, all leave the door open, as Mormonism does, that you'll get a second chance on the other side. You just look into this story here and see where the second chance is. As you will see, the living dead don't even get anything but the chance of the Word of God in the first place.

The Unsaved Dead have no Excuse

In verses 27-29, the unsaved dead are entirely responsible for their negative volition toward the warnings of Scripture, and toward the divine plan of escape through grace. They are entirely responsible. I'll guarantee you, you'll never be able to say to anybody around you in hell. "But so many wonderful preachers told me that I had to have my water baptism; I had to take the Lord's Supper; or, I had to have circumcision. They told me I had to live good works. I was a faithful Mormon, and I was told I had to have these good works. I was told I had to have ritual baptism (water baptism). I was told I had to have the laying on of the hands for the imposition of the Holy Spirit. I was told I had to be sorry for my sins." God will hold you responsible because the Bible told you otherwise. It'll be no excuse. There'll be no mercy exercised toward you. The unsaved dead are responsible, and there will be no escape for them. And there'll be no excuse.

The Unsaved Dead cannot Alert the Unsaved Living

Furthermore, notice in verses 30-31 that the unsaved dead cannot help to alert the unsaved living to the doom that awaits them. This man would have given anything to have been able to save his five brothers from joining him, and in all likelihood his five brothers joined him. Can you imagine what a picnic (what a wonderful time) the brothers had when they had that reunion in hell? Can't you imagine this man here in Hades saying, "Well, OK, if you can't go back and warn them, at least we'll all be here together so we can comfort one another." Can you imagine this man saying that? You can see it that that doesn't even fit in the story. You can't even fit that in the picture. This man is in such agonies that he doesn't have any comfort for anybody else. But when his five brothers joined him, they joined him with their own agonies.

You can't help the people in hell in any way. And you cannot help to alert the living through those who have gone on beyond. Why not? Because God says that you have doctrine. You had the information of the Word of God. If you reject that, you are without excuse.

So, that really puts upon us a very grave responsibility. You better make very sure where you're getting your doctrine from. You'd better make very sure that, like the Bereans of old, you are checking out your doctrines according to Scripture, and that you're seeing that it really comes from Scripture – that your doctrine does not come from some fancy-footed, smooth-talking preacher who is slipping around English words to you. You better find that your doctrine is coming from the original languages, and you see that that's what God has said, and not what some preachers told you that God has said. You've got a lot at stake here. A lot is riding on this.

Notice that verse 31 says that at the heart of God's plan to reverse the fear of death is His revelation about salvation in His inerrant, inspired Bible. If you listen to the Scriptures, the fear of death will depart. To die physically while you are spiritually dead locks a person into eternal death – separation from God forever in hell. And there's no way out.

So, there is only way to reverse the fear of death. And there's good cause to fear death if you are an unbeliever. There is great cause to fear death if you're not sure about your salvation. There's great cause to fear death if you are counting on something, and now you are not sure that you are counting and depending on the right thing. You have great cause to fear death if you have interjected something that may undo everything that God has provided. And that's what most church people do. They interject a human doing that undoes abuse all of what grace has provided. And you have great fear of your destiny if you have been guilty of that.

How do we Escape the Consequences of Adam's Sin?

The world, since Adam's sin has become one huge cemetery. But there is something far greater than physical death, and that is to lock it in forever into spiritual death. The bottom line in all this is that everyone must be justified to escape eternal death, and thus to escape the fear of death. The question, of course, is: how is this done? How do we escape the consequences of Adam's sin, and the guilt which was imputed to us as a result of that? To be wrong on this is to be wrong on the most important thing in your life.

So, the first part of verse 17 has said: "For if by one man's (Adam's) stepping out of line offense, death (physical and spiritual) reigned as king by that one man." Now he comes to the other side of the argument. This was the conditional part of the sentence. Remember we said that the word "if" in verse 17 is not a question of doubt, but is the idea of certainty. It is a first-class condition in the Greek, which means "since:" "For since by this one man's offense, this is the case (this is what happened). Death came as a result of what Adam did.

Now we have the other side of the argument. Remember that this is the argument from something that's less to something that's greater – consequently, being true. The other side is introduced by the words "much more." The word "much" looks like this in Greek: "polus." This is an adjective, and it means "much" or "many." And it means this in terms of degree: "much or many in terms of degree." The other word "more" is this word "mallon." "Mallon" is an adverb, and it indicates an increase.

So, the two words indicate a greater increase of certainty about what follows. The words "much more," which we've had several times in this chapter, indicate a greater degree of certainty now is to be introduced. If this is true, then "palus mallon" – "much more" (certainly), this is going to be true. It introduces the conclusion part of this sentence that began with the word "if." It expresses the greater certainty that the believer will reign in life through the God-man, Jesus Christ, as the believer once was under the reign of death through the man Adam. The believer will reign in life much more certainly as the result of what the God-man, Jesus Christ did, just as once death reigned over man as a result of what the good man Adam did.

God's grace must be far more powerful in its working than man's sin: "Much more they who received." "They who received" is one word in Greek. This is the verb "lambano." The word "lambano refers to something which is external to man himself. This is something that is given to you. Something comes externally. It is not something from within yourself, but something which is handed to you. Consequently, it is something (we say) that you receive. It's not created by the person, but it comes from outside of himself. The word "receive" here is referring to the positive volition attitude of the sinner toward the gospel of the grace of God. It refers to the voluntary reception of an external gift of salvation.

This is a very important word. It introduces the condition for personal salvation and eternal life – the activity of personal trust in Jesus Christ: "I receive." This happens to be in the present tense, which tells us in the Greek language that this is constantly true – those who receive. It happens to be active voice, which means you must make the decision to receive. But if you are neutral, or if you're not sure, that's the same as being negative. You are actively involved. And it is a participle in mood, which is the way of expressing a spiritual principle. This participle here means that, one-by-one, sinner's accept a salvation that is produced entirely external to themselves, and they just simply take it. One-by-one they do this. The unlimited atonement of Jesus Christ benefits only the elect who receive it by faith.

Not Universalism

Paul is not teaching universalism – that everybody is being saved. And we have that one-by-one in this participle. It's called in the Greek an iterative participle. That means it indicates that on each occasion as a person faces this. He takes it one-at-a-time. Not everybody will take it, but one-by-one people receive it.

The Abundance of Grace

So, we may translate this as simply: "the recipients:" "much more the recipients." These people are passive beneficiaries of both divine grace and the gift of absolute righteousness: "much more," they are the recipients of something that he calls "the abundance of grace."

Surplus

Let's look at the word "abundance" first. It is the Greek word "perriseia." "Perriseia" is a noun, and it means "an exceeding measure." This word has a mathematical connotation – exceeding measure in terms of numbers, or in terms of amount. It connotes something that is above the ordinary, and above what is needed. Perhaps a good way to view this is "surplus." That's the connotation of this word. "Perriseia" means "surplus. One place this word is used in the Bible, that'll help you to understand it, is Matthew 14:20, where we have the story about Jesus feeding the multitude with the loaves and fishes. It says that when they finished, they took up 12 basket bowls of leftover food, and the word for "that remained" (in Matthew 14:20, you have the words "that remained") is this word "perriseia;" that is; for the surplus.

Let's just look at that a minute. We would read that somewhat like this: "They all did eat and were filled;" that is, they were completely satisfied. They had everything that they needed. They didn't want any more. And then they took up the fragments that were surplus. There's the word: "the fragments that remain, 12 baskets full." They took up the fragments that were surplus.

So, here you have this word illustrating the fact that when everybody is just satiated (they can't eat any more, and they want no more), then there's still more. And the disciples walked around with 12 baskets just is loaded to the gills with food. And what they had in their baskets the Bible calls "perriseia."

Now he attaches this word, connoting that kind of surplus, to the concept of grace. The multitude had eaten its fill. They desired no more. They were satisfied. Yet they had an abundance left over.

Grace

The word in Romans 5:17 describes the nature of God's grace toward us: lavish in its amount; and, far in excess of what we need. And this grace is the source of the salvation that God gives. This grace is the source of the salvation – not you, the sinner. It is God's grace that is the source of this salvation. So, he attaches this "perriseia" (this surplus) to the word "grace," which is the Greek word "charis." That is a beautiful word. This is the word which is opposed to (the opposite of) depth. This is the opposite of what you deserve.

We have had that illustrated in Romans 4:4, where it says, "Now to him that works is the reward not reckoned of grace but of debt." If you do any earning; if you do any doing; or, if you do any ritual, then you are not on a grace basis with God. You are on a works basis.

Notice Romans 4:16: "Therefore, it is of faith, that it might be by grace." The only way that salvation can be by grace is if it's by faith in accepting something external to yourself: "It is therefore of faith, that it might be by grace, to the end that the promise might be sure to all the seed; not to that only which is of the Law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham who is the father of us all." Salvation is made absolutely sure by being given on a faith basis rather than a works basis. If it's on a works basis, you're never sure that your works have been sufficient. If it's on a grace gift basis, all you have to do is take it, and you know it's enough.

Let's look at one more verse to show you the opposite of "charis" (the opposite of grace): Romans 11:6. Here's the great one" And if by grace, then it is no more of works; otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then it is no more grace; otherwise work is no more work." You couldn't find a verse in the Bible that differentiates works and grace more than that one.

So, the word "grace" here means favor apart from personally deserving or earning it. In the Greek, you have "the grace." If you were going to literally translate it, the Greek Bible, says, "the grace," because it's referring specifically to the grace referred to in this context, such as in verse 15, which preserves sinners from eternal death.

God's solution for removing the judgment of eternal death upon us does not depend on something in the doomed sinner. It depends on something in the grace of God. It is dependent upon the abundance of grace. The grace of God is always, thus, far in excess of our vilest sins and our most nauseating human good. And that's good to know. That means that a person has never gone too far into evil to return, because the grace of God, like the 12 baskets full is always far in excess of the need. And that's what "abundance of grace" means – putting these two words together: surplus of grace. It means that you can never have gone so far into sin (into evil) that there is no return.

The penalty for Adam's sin was just what it deserved: no more; and, no less. But that isn't the way it is with God's grace. God's grace doesn't give you just what you need, and no more, and no less. It gives you superabundant grace. Grace to undo the damage is given to us in unrestrained and unmeasured abundance.

That's not all. He uses the word "and" which is the Greek word "kai:" "and more." This is the apostle's way of using a thing that's become very popular in advertising today. If you buy this, you'll get this, and this, and this, and much more. And they always love to use the words "and much more," and then they go into much more. Well, this is the Greek way of saying "and much more." It was great already for the apostle Paul to say that they who receive abundance of grace, but that isn't an all that you'll get. You'll get something in addition.

A Gift

What you get is "a gift." Here we have a very special word for "gift:" "dorea." "Dorea" is a noun. This is a word which stresses the gratuitous nature of a gift. "Free gift is the idea. It is in the nature of a gift that there be no strings attached. Otherwise it is something you earn or deserve, and it can't be a gift. If it's to be a gift, it must have no strings attached. It has reference here, of course, to the gift of absolute righteousness which a sinner must have to enter heaven. We told you earlier that the bottom line is you must be justified. To be justified in God's sight, you must possess absolute righteousness. That's what justification means – that God sees His perfect, absolute righteousness credited to your account. When God sees that, He declares you justified. When you are declared justified, you're eternally secure and destined for heaven.

So, the word "gift" has reference to this absolute righteousness which we must have to enter heaven. No created being, because he is contended by the sin nature, can in any way achieve absolute righteousness. All that a sinner does is contaminated by the old sin nature. So, only human good is all that he produces, including the human good of his religious rituals. Only those who are spiritually alive can produce divine good which meets the standard of absolute righteousness. The Bible calls this God's glory. You have to be spiritually alive to produce divine good.

Absolute Righteousness

So, the only way a lost sinner can achieve absolute righteousness is by having it given to him as a "dorea" – a gift of no strings attached. But this is a specific kind of gift. He says that this is a gift of righteousness. This word in the Greek: "dikaiosune." "Dikaiosune" is a word that means to be entirely right – to be perfect by divine standards. This word in the Greek is actually an explanation of what is in "dorea." "Dikaiosune" tells you what is in "dorea." It tells you what kind of a gift it is. It's a gift which constitutes the absolute righteousness of God. It is given as a gift to believing sinners because of the superabundance of God's grace. This is the same righteousness which we've had previously referred to. You can look back in Romans 1:17 and Romans 3:21-22. They talk about this absolute righteousness – a righteousness from God (these verses tell us), which comes apart from human doing. And that's what you need. You need a righteousness that is apart from human doing.

So, this righteousness is one which is entirely consistent with God's character (His standards) simply because it's His very own righteousness. So, such a quality of absolute righteousness is completely beyond human ability to attain. But this is what is credited to the believers account, and is the basis of God's verdict that the believer is justified in God's eyes.

In Christ

When you have absolute righteousness, the Bible says that you are now, in God's eyes, in Christ. This is the place of righteousness which is absolute. And the believer is placed in Christ. He, therefore, is in the position of absolute righteousness. God the Father looks upon this, and declares that Christian to be justified simply because he has the absolute righteousness of God credited to his account. That's the basis of the divine verdict.

Concentric Circles

This doesn't mean that a believer is sinless. Just because you are in Christ does not mean that you are sinless, or that you ever will be on this earth. That's ultimate sanctification. We illustrate this with concentric circles.

Eternal Fellowship

At some point, a person trusts in Christ as Savior. He comes into a position of eternal fellowship. This is also "in Christ." This is in the outer circle.

Temporal Fellowship

Now, he also comes into a position of temporal fellowship. That's represented by this inner circle. The inner circle is the place of spirituality. The outer circle is the place of carnality. In the inner circle, the Christian is in a place here of perfect fellowship with God. This is what we were asking you to be certain that you did this morning – that you were in the inner circle of fellowship with God your Father, so that the Holy Spirit is free to teach you. This is the Holy Spirit's area of instruction – in the inner circle. This temporal fellowship area is the place where God the Holy Spirit can teach you spiritual things. It is the place where He can hear your prayers and answer them. It is the place where He can give you guidance in your life.

When you sin, a very terrible thing happens. You step outside of the inner circle. Now you are in the place of carnality. You are no longer in a place of spirituality. But please notice that you are still in Christ (in the outer circle). You have not lost your salvation. You have not departed from your position of eternal fellowship. You're just not on good terms with God your father. You're a prodigal son now. And until you come to the point where you call upon 1 John 1:9 and you confess your sins, which wipes out all your known sins (and 1 John 1:9 tells you that this cleanses you from all unrighteousness – the sins you forgot), you'll never get back into the inner circle. But once you've made confession, you pop back into that inner circle, and you are now full terms with God your father.

However, this position in the outer circle, but not in the inner circle, is the position of a sinning Christian– a sinning born-again persons. These inner and outer circles represent justification. You are justified because you are in Christ, but you can be in Christ and be a sinner. Then you're out of fellowship. You can be in Christ, and be an obedient child. Then you are spiritual. To be out of the inner circle (disobedient to Christ) is to be carnal.

Now, if you insist on staying out of the inner circle (but in the outer circle), I know that somebody here is going to say, "Oh, well, great. That means I can do all these terrible things I always used to. I really did like to do those things. I still like to do them." And you think that you can do them. No, because the Spirit of God will burden your heart and say, "Bad, bad. Lay off. Lay off." And if you refuse, and you harden your heart, the time will come when you will suffer the sin unto death.

So, all of a sudden we see some young person just snatched out of life – somebody at the prime of productivity just snatched out of life. And we wonder why. Well, sometimes the answer to why is because the sin unto death has taken that life, and that believer is taken home to heaven.

So, you don't get away with anything in the family of God. I do want to make it clear to you that when we say that you are in Christ, and therefore, you have absolute righteousness credited to your account, that does not mean that you then never do another wrong thing; that you never come up with some loathsome human good; and, that you never come up with another piece of contribution to sin, because you do. Only in heaven will you ultimately be free of this.

Well, the gift of righteousness is the free gift that we talked about in verse 15. It's the free gift unto justification that we talked about in verse 16. So, in other words, the gift of righteousness is in effect, the gift of justification – the gift of the righteousness of Jesus Christ by which believers are justified. The gift of justification includes the gift of the righteousness of Jesus Christ.

So, the righteousness of Almighty God actually becomes your personal righteousness through faith. In time, you will live up to that righteousness in practice.

Human Righteousness

Remember that human righteousness is not a lower kind of divine righteousness. People always make that mistake. They think if you just take human rights and keep maturing it, and developing it, it will finally get the God's righteousness. Human righteousness, I remind you (Isaiah 64:6 says) is "a filthy rag" in the sight of God. That means your finest work and your finest ritual is a filthy rag in the sight of God. A mixed audience today precludes me from telling you literally what that means in Hebrew. If you want to know, you can come up and ask. But it's bad. Human righteousness only helps people to live with each other, and to sort of help put a restraint upon society. That's all that human righteousness does. It doesn't mean anything with God. It just sort of keeps people from killing each other by following certain human good righteousness.

Divine Righteousness

However, divine righteousness is what you need for eternal life. And that's what he's speaking of here as a gift. And a gift means no strings attached. If by one man's (Adam's) sin, this monumental destruction of death could have come upon all of us, how much more do you think that we have received from the abundance of God's grace? It more than covers the need of our sin. And we receive not only that, but also more the gift of absolute righteousness credited to our account – that we shall reign in life by one Jesus Christ?

We Shall Reign

Here is the punchline of all of this, folks. "Shall reign" is the Greek word "basileuo." "Basileuo" is the word that we previously had in reference to death. Death reigned as king. Now we have the same word. It means "to rule as King." But the subject of this action this time is the justified sinner. He's the one who is going to rule as king. You will notice that the apostle Paul says, "The death reigned as king." And we would think that he's going to come over here and say, "Now life is going to rule as king." You notice he does not. Don't miss that. That is a very important thing he's telling us. When you come into life (into the abundance of the absolute righteousness of life), something tremendous happens to you. You do not just come under the reign of life. You yourself become the king. Where death made you a subject slave, life (through absolute righteousness) makes you a king – not a subject. It makes you the king.

Life

This is in the future: "shall reign," from the point of your salvation. It is active. You, the believer do the reigning. It's indicative mood. It's a statement of fact: "We shall reign in." That's the Greek word "en," which gives the location of this reigning. And that is "life." And this is the word "zoe." The word "zoe" is a noun. It's the word for life as a principle in contrast to death, the absence of life. Here it refers to the quality of eternal life. This is the life (the "zoe") which is being spoken of and John 5:24 and in 1 John 3:14. This is the word which is consistently used in the New Testament to describe the finest and the highest that God has for those who possess absolute righteousness. It is referring to the status of the life of a justified believer in Christ in contrast to the previous state of death in Adam. Life is the product of absolute righteousness, as death is the product of sin, and the absence of absolute righteousness.

So, while Paul said on the one hand that death reigned over us all, he does not say that life reigns. But he says rather that we will reign in life. There was a time when death reigned as the soul king over all mankind. All of us were subject to it, and death was a tyrant. But in life, the justified-by-grace believer becomes a king who rules. You are no longer a subject.

Now get it through your head that you sit here as the king. The lady who sits next to you is the Queen. You are kings and queens of God. You are the royal family of God. Do you know what royalty means? Royalty doesn't mean some slob that's standing on a street corner looking for a handout – panhandling. You are royalty. We forget that we are royalty. You are the kings and the queens of God. You are royalty. You're the family of God of absolute righteousness. You are no longer subject to the forces of this world. Believers with eternal life reign with Jesus Christ in the life which they've receive through faith in Him. What a much more this is. It's not just life reigns over you. You are the one who rules life. This reigning life begins on earth, and it develops in a maximum degree with eternity.

We are Reigning

Notice for a moment Ephesians 2:4. It says, "God, who is rich in mercy, for His great love, wherewith He loved us. God is rich in His mercy. Even when we were dead in sins, (He) has made us alive together with Christ. By grace you are saved." And notice verse 6: "And has raised us up together and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus." Does this mean that in the future, you're going to sit in heaven? No, no. This is talking about right now. You are now seated in the heavenlies with the king, because you're a king; because you're a queen; and, you're in the heavenlies with Him, reigning.

Furthermore, Revelation 20:6 tells us that we're going to reign forever with Him. This quality of reigning in life begins here on earth. It begins now. You would miss the point here if you think that this talks about what is in the future. Right now, you are reigning on this earth. You have an enormous potential for happiness and for achievement. God gives believers authority over Satan and demons in life. Isn't that great? This is in the Christian life. You, the Christian soldier, are sitting here with all your armor on. You're being attacked by a three-pronged attack every day of your life: the world; the flesh; and, the devil. And it is certainly great to know that one of the most terrible enemies hitting you every day of your life as a Christian soldier in the angelic conflict is the devil, whom you already have conquered. It is great to go to war with an enemy that you know you've already defeated, and he's just going through motions. And that's all the devil is doing – going through motions. God has giving you authority over Satan and demons in life. God showers His saints with great blessings, and with victories in Satan's world, so that we elude the enemy.

Any believer who is defeated in his daily life has cause to be humiliated. If you are defeated in your daily life as a Christian, you have cause to feel humiliated. You're the king, and kings don't walk around being humiliated. But you may say, "I'm so afraid of being lost again." Isn't that kind of a way for a king to talk? John 10:28-29 tells you that no one can ever take you out of the hand of God. But you're a king, and you walk around afraid you're going to be lost again. You have cause to be humiliated.

Or you're the victim of false doctrines. You just don't know whether the charismatics are true or not. People out of witchcraft tell us how they help support the charismatic movement because it helps their cause. People out of witchcraft point out to us that they talk in the same kind of gibberish tongues the way the charismatics do – let alone the Word of God, which condemns it on every account. But because you don't know doctrine, you just don't know whether it's true or not. They're such nice people. Yet Ephesians 414 says, "And you're the king." You don't get tossed to and fro by every wind of doctrine. You learn how to stand.

Oh, but you may say, "I'm afraid of dying." . . . But Hebrews 2:15 tells us that God has said that He has snatched the terror of death out of Satan's hands. You don't have to be afraid of dying anymore. I'll guarantee you that when your time is up, you're going. And you might as well enjoy the trip. But there's nothing to fear on the other side. The best is yet ahead, I guarantee you.

So, you're the king, but you're controlled by Satan and demons – yes, controlled by Satan and demons. Some Christians who are demonized. We have them all around us right. Every now and then you some Christian who drops out of operation and functioning within the local assembly. You can almost be sure that you're looking at a demonized Christian – not possessed, but completely dominated by a demonic being.

Yet, James 4:7 and 1 Peter 5:9 tell us how we are able to cause Satan to flee from us, and for his minions to be defeated when they try to approach us.

You have a spirit of discontent and dissatisfaction with your lot in life. Yet, Philippians for 11-13 tell us how the apostle Paul has found, in whatever state he is, therewith to be content, because he has found his fulfillment as one of God's kings who is ruling.

You have a legalistic lifestyle. Romans 6:14 says, "We're not under the law, but we're under grace." But you're the king. You're walking around in your legalistic lifestyle. You have cause to be humiliated.

Or you lack needs. Isn't it terrible for a king to be a pauper? Isn't it terrible for a king not to have what he needs in life? Yet, Philippians 4:19 says that out of the riches of His glory, He supplies everything we need. You rule in life as once you were a subject and dominated by death. Now that is much more. That is fantastically much more.

However, remember that while you can be victorious while this three-pronged attack is constantly striking at you day-by-day, the apostle Paul adds some very important words at the end – that all of this reigning in life now and in eternal life future is "by," and the word "by" is this Greek word "dia." "Dia" here means "through:" "One" is our old word "heis" again, meaning the single one. And the Greek has the one, here meaning Jesus Christ. Then he names Him: "Iesous Christos" (Jesus the Christ). And it is He, the Son of God, who has made all this possible. As we lost it all in Adam, Paul said, we've more than regained it in Jesus Christ.

Now see if you can't live like a king. See if you can't live like one of God's queens instead of some slob in some garbage dump who's rummaging around trying to make it. Now, if a man, don't try to live like a queen; and, if you're a woman, don't try to live like a king. Don't mix up those term. But God says that you're the royal family of God. So act accordingly. This is a great text.

Finally, Paul slashes the end of this parentheses on, and he says, "Now I've explained it, and that's it." In the next session, we pick up his final summation. He says, "Now, I'm going to say it once more, and this is it." What is he saying? He's saying that: "You poor people, without any participation on your part, came under eternal death because your representative Adam lost it all for you. But you wonderful people, on the other side, have received it all, and more than all, because your other representative, Jesus Christ, regained it all for you in such a way that you could never lose that again. But all you have to do is "lambano" it. You have to receive it. You have to say, "Yes, grace is God's method, and I'm glad it is. That makes it certain. That makes it salvation in perpetuity. It's irrevocable, and I accept it. And now I can live as one of God's royal family. I am the ruler. I'm the king. I'm the queen. I'm not a subject, and I don't intend to live like one. May that be your case.

Dr. John E. Danish, 1977

Back to the Romans index

Back to the Bible Questions index