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Positional Truth
RO68-01© Berean Memorial Church of Irving, Texas, Inc. (1977)
Please turn to Romans 6:3-4.
Religion
Satan is the author of religion. His system of religion appeals to the human sin nature. All systems which seek to secure the favor of God through
human works and through human rituals, in contrast to God's grace provision, are systems of religion. Religion is made up of systems which depend
on human merit to gain salvation rather than depending on the merit of Jesus Christ. Religion is made up of systems where man offers something to
God on the basis of what man is, rather than God offering something to man on the basis of who and what God is. Religion always rejects salvation
by divine grace alone, and often, in the process, rejects Jesus Christ Himself. The religions of the world do this indeed. They not only reject the
concept of salvation as the result of something that God does for us. They even reject God's agent, the Son of God, in the process.
So, when the apostle Paul comes up against the legalists in his day, he had the same problem that we face with people today. Then Paul was
sounding for about salvation by the grace of God, apart from human efforts, he was immediately met with religion. And religion said, "No, man
has to be involved. Man has to do something to merit eternal life."
Mormonism
We have pointed out to you that Mormonism is a classic modern day example of Satan's system of religion which rejects God's plan of salvation by
grace, apart from human works. Mormonism makes no apologies for the fact that it believes in salvation that is dependent upon human good works
and human effort. Mormonism makes no apology for the fact that it believes that it has a system of approaching God which is true, and which
requires certain rituals to be performed. It's a classic modern day example of all religions. If you study Mormonism, you've got it all together.
You've got the whole thing. All the features are there of what is true about every human effort to approach God on a basis other than grace.
Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon
The primary creator of Mormonism, as you know, was, of course, Joseph Smith. But he had a right-hand man, a fellow named Sidney Rigdon. Sidney
Rigdon happened to be the only trained minister and only practicing minister of the close associates of Joseph Smith. Joseph Smith claimed that
God told him that all the expressions of Christianity, as they existed in the early 19th century, were wrong, and that God was going to use him
(a 14-year-old boy at the time) as the channel of a restored true Christianity in the form of a perfect religion. And those are the words that
Joseph Smith used, and that the Mormons used – that God was going to restore a perfect religion. These were very fitting words when you
think about religion in its true meaning as a satanic system of human effort to approach God on the merits of man.
Well Smith and Rigdon actually wove together a system of religion with features from various sources which simply appeal to them. And Rigdon was
trained (he was well-versed in religious systems), and between Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon, Mormonism evolved.
Roman Catholicism
For example, the ecclesiastical government of the Roman Catholic Church appealed to them. But instead of a pope, they had a prophet. But the
prophet's pronouncements were the voice of God on earth, just as the Pope's pronouncements are the voice of God on earth for the Catholic system.
So, when it came to an ecclesiastical church government system, Rigdon and Smith looked over at Roman Catholicism, and they said, "We like that,"
and they incorporated that system. That's why it is so startling to see the absolute similarities between the Roman Catholic system and the Mormon
system, and why the Mormon system is described as a Catholic system for Protestants.
Alexander Campbell and the Church of Christ
Secondly, a religious leader of considerable prominence at the same time of Smith and Rigdon was a man named Alexander Campbell. Alexander
Campbell enjoyed a great success in founding a new religious group called the Church of Christ, which exists to this day. Campbell's appeal to
people was what he called the preaching of a restored gospel. And he used the word "restored." This restored gospel had at the heart of it,
baptismal regeneration – regeneration (salvation) through water baptism.
Baptism for the Dead
Now, this appealed to Smith and Rigdon, and they like the word "restored." That's why Mormonism today says, "The Reformation was not enough to
clear up the problem. It was not enough to restore the truth. What was necessary was a complete restoration of the new and everlasting gospel.
So, their perfect religion included Alexander Campbell's idea of a restored gospel based upon water baptism. They expanded it to include baptisms
for the dead. So, the Mormons, in their temple, baptize you for dead people, because in this way, being baptized by proxy for dead people, gives
those dead people a second chance out there in eternity to be saved.
Priesthood
They like the priesthood system of the Old Testament with its temple; its rituals; its garments; its tithing system; and, its authority structure.
So, they incorporated what they call the Aaronic priesthood and the Melchizedek priesthood. It is pure nonsense to think about the Aaronic
priesthood being delivered to gentiles, but that doesn't bother the Mormon's setup. They liked the structure. Smith and Rigdon said, "Let's
include that. You may speak to the Mormon missionaries here in town, and one of the first things they'll hit you with is: "Where do you get your
spiritual authority? We have a priesthood from God, the Aaronic and the Melchizedek priesthood. We are authorized to baptize. We are authorized
to marry people. We are authorized to do this. We are authorized to do that. And you're not authorized to do anything." This is a system of
authority, and it's is very impressive.
Mysticism and Freemasonry
Then mysticism is always a big part of a religious system. The mysticism that appealed to these two was one that they had found in their activity
in Masonry. Masonry was very popular at the time. It had its system of initiation ceremonies; its secret words; its symbols; its secret signs; and,
the sacred vows that you took. There was a great era of mysticism about this, and that appealed to them. This is why there is such ill-feeling in
Utah and Idaho between Mormons and Masons, and why Mormons are not allowed to participate in masonry in those states, because the Masons say that
the Mormons just stole their system. And they incorporated it, and reveal their secrets, and used all their signs. And it is right down the line.
They took their oaths. This appealed to Smith and Rigdon. And they said that this was originally a true expression of God, but the Masons had
corrupted it, but they had purified it. So, they incorporated that system.
Secrecy
You just have to actually practically have gone through one of these temple rituals to see how absolutely nonsense this is as a religious approach
to God. Where in the Word of God was anything secret, for example, about the Old Testament temple. The only secret thing was when the high priest
went into the holy of holies on the day of atonement, and people waited to see whether the blood that he took in there in behalf of the people and
himself was going to be acceptable to God, or whether God was going to strike him dead. And that's why the bells were tinkling on the bottom of his
garments. So, as long as the people heard the tinkling bells, they knew that all was well between them and God. But beyond that, there was nothing
secret about the ceremonies and rituals of the temple. And even that was not really secret.
Mohammedanism and Polygamy
Smith and Rigdon were students of Muhammadanism, so they incorporated certain features of Mohammedanism. They cooperated polygamy. They
incorporated the concepts of blood atonement. They taught that there were certain sins that a person can commit that are of such moral heinous
quality that the blood of Christ will not cleanse you from them. And therefore you must shed your own blood. That's why the state of Utah is the
only state in the United States which will give you your option to be executed by hanging or by firing squad. Rarely does anybody ever executed in
Utah by hanging. The Mormon concept of blood atonement is so great that they all choose firing squad, because the idea is that if their own blood
will be shed, they will then be saved. And there are Mormons who are pulling the triggers as a fulfillment of this doctrine to help this criminal
to be saved.
Prophets
They took over the concept of the modern prophet from Muhammadanism speaking for God. You have that now in the modern prophet in Iran, who is, in
time, surely going to become the head of that state now that the Shah is gone, and the Muslim state will be set up. And this prophet of God will
then speak for God, and he will be the voice of God, and he will be the authority in that state. And of course, he is currently being manipulated
by the communist world into that position. Well, that idea of a modern prophet speaking for God is very appealing to Mormons, so they included that
in their religious system. They're very proud of that today. I heard him say that to me several times in Salt Lake City – that they have a
man in their church who speaks for God, and who gives them current up-to-date information from God.
Degrees of Heaven
They took over the idea of degrees of heaven for Mohammedanism. They have three heavens. Joseph Smith invented the word "telestial" as the lowest
great heaven. I don't know what that means, but "telestial" is a word that he coined. Then he had a terrestrial as the second heaven. And then he
had a celestial. That's the top heaven. Nobody who is not a polygamist (who does not have multiple wives) ever gets into the celestial heaven.
That's the top heaven. That's the top exaltation, and so on. But they took over these degrees of heaven.
Women
Also, the idea of women's complete dependence upon the whims of males was taken right over from Mohammedanism, certainly not from the Word of
God. That's why a wife will only be resurrected, if she's a Mormon, providing her husband calls her name on resurrection day. Otherwise she
doesn't get up.
Rosicrucianism
One of the popular culture of the day was a thing called Rosicrucianism. Rosicrucianism was much in prominence in the early 19th century, and
it dealt with the doctrine of humans as gods in embryo. Now, that appealed to Smith and Rigdon, they took that over, and they said, "That's a
good idea. We human beings are going to become gods." So, the Mormons today say, as God once was, we now are; as God now is, man will become."
So, they are going to become gods.
The Preexistence of Souls
They also took over from the Rosicrucian isn't the concept of the preexistence of souls. So, they incorporated that into their religion –
that everybody has existed before. And sometimes you try to think: where did I come from, and where have I been? They said that there was a life
before that you have come in here with, and now you are trying to remember it. But this is your period of trial; your period of testing; and,
your period of opportunity here on this earth to go back to your father in heaven who made you. That spirit (that father) generated you, because
God has sex with his wives, and that's where the spirit children come from. And then you are supposed to have many children, so that you can give
bodies for these spirit children to come to.
The Holiness Concept
The holiness concept was coming into great prominence in the early 19th century. So, they incorporated the idea of the special laying on of
hands in order to deliver the Holy Spirit to the individual through authorized spiritual leaders which tied back to their priesthood.
Eternal Marriages
Mormonism has at the core of it another feature that was very, very prominent from ancient times, and that is sex at the heart of worship. Sex
is very big in Mormonism. And they included that in their system. The eternal marriages for sex in eternity goes back to the heavy overtones of
sex in worship from the ancient Babylonian systems.
Hell
All of this is topped off with a big dose of misinterpretation of Scripture, which ends up rejecting the concept that there's a place like hell
for anybody really to face.
"The Perfect Religion"
So, Mormonism is a terrifically classic example of religion, because what Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon put together was an eclectic system,
taking what they considered the best from all kinds of sources, religious sources, and they put together what they called "the perfect religion."
Certainly it had the quality of appealing to the sin nature. What they ended up with in their perfect religion is, in fact, a universal religion,
which has been designed by Satan to have a wide appeal in Satan's world system.
The Rejection of Salvation by Grace Alone
The whole system, however, I want to remind you, is the product of the rejecting of the basic principle of salvation by grace alone. Once they
rejected that, then they were off and running into putting together this monstrosity of a religious approach to God called Mormonism. It all began
with the rejection of grace alone through faith in Jesus Christ as the basis of salvation. Oh, they hold to this. They'll tell you that you must
have faith in Jesus Christ, but you must add on to that these other human doings, or you will never enter the celestial exaltation.
Now, the saddest part about all this is the fact that anyone who follows the Mormon plan of salvation will end up in the lake of fire. And if
you know Mormon, you can look him right into the eye, and you can declare this to him as truth (as God's truth – as true as anything that
the Word of God ever indicates): that that person is going to end up in the lake of fire. They look at you with shock when you tell them that, and
I've done it several times. They are immediately ready to reject it, but that's exactly what's going to happen today. No one could go to heaven on
the basis of religion, and no one can go to heaven on the basis of the Mormon religious system. They're going to end up in the lake of fire, and
most of them as very fine, moral people.
Baptize
What Paul has told us here in the opening of Romans 6 is that a person who is born again by God's plan of grace has been baptized into the death
of Christ. Here are some things we've learned about the word "baptize:" For example, the word "baptize" is not an English word. It's a word that has
been transliterated from Greek into English letters. It was never really translated. That's one thing you should know about the word "baptize."
It's just a Greek word in English letters.
To Place Into
Another thing you should have learned by now is that the word "baptize" does have a translation, and that the translation is "to place into" or
"to introduce into." So, next time on the test you get the question: translate the word "baptize," you should say "to place into" or "to introduce
into." Now, the significance of that translation (the meaning of "baptize") is "to identify with." What does baptized mean. It means to identify
one thing with another thing. You should have that straight.
Seven Baptisms
You also should be aware of the fact that there are seven different kinds of baptisms in the New Testament. They're four real, actual
identifications where no water is used: the baptism of Moses; the baptism of the cross; the baptism of the Holy Spirit; and, the baptism of fire.
All of these are actual joining together of one thing with another, but they do not use water.
Then there are three baptisms which are ritual baptisms. These are symbolic. They are representative identifications. They don't actually join
something together, but they symbolically portray something being joined together, or being identified. And this time, waters is used. You have
the baptism of John, which of course, stopped when the daughter of Herodias got her wish, and got John's head for her reward for her dancing. That
was the end of John's baptism.
The Baptism of the Holy Spirit
There was the baptism of Jesus, which was one-of-a-kind – unique in itself. And there was the baptism of Christianity – the one we
practice today, the baptism of Christians. The baptism in Romans 6:3 is not water baptism. It is the baptism of the Holy Spirit. It is one of
the real baptisms where no water is used. It's real and it's dry. And it places a believer into union with Jesus Christ, which actually identifies
him with all the Christ is before the Father. That's the important significance about the baptism of the Holy Spirit.
Paul is particularly centering our attention on the fact, in Romans 6:3, that we have been identified with Christ in His death. That is the
feature that is pertinent to his discussion of salvation. He is moving from salvation here, and he is setting the ground for sanctification, for
godly holy living. But he is taking up this attack that a person, if he is saved by grace and doesn't have anything to worry about, should just
let his sin nature rule his life and dominate him. Paul is saying, "No, that's not true because that can't be possible because the old sin nature
no longer dominates a Christian's life. Now God the Holy Spirit dominates. God the Holy Spirit is the sovereign.
The reason that that is true is because the Christian has been joined to the death of Christ. Water baptism could never achieve such a real union
with Christ in His death for sins. Water baptism is a ritual which symbolically identifies the believer with Jesus Christ, and with the absolute
righteousness of Jesus Christ, and with the satisfied justice of God which was obtained through Christ.
A Symbol
So, water a baptism is a symbol. But the actual baptism here in Romans 6 is the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Water baptism merely symbolizes Holy
Spirit baptism.
Satan's systems of religion inevitably twist things around, and they make the ritual of water baptism the means of union with Christ in place of
the baptism of the Holy Spirit being the means of union. Well, 1 Corinthians 12:13, that we looked at in some detail, makes it very clear that we
are all baptized by one Holy Spirit into one body.
Newness of Life
Now then, looking at Romans 6:4, Paul proceeds to build upon his statement in verse 3 that we have been united with Christ via baptism – the
baptism of the Holy Spirit. Verse 4 says, "Therefore, we are buried with Him by baptism into death, that as Christ was raised up from the dead by
the glory of the Father, even so, we also should walk in newness of life."
The word "therefore" that begins this sentence is the Greek word "oun." This word introduces a consequence or a conclusion based on what he said
in verse 3. In verse 3, he said that we were baptized into the death of Christ. He looks back at this statement of the believer's identification
with Jesus Christ in His death for the sins of the world on the cross. This union with Christ in His death in payment for our sins means that our
old sin nature has lost its sovereign authority in our lives as believers. Christ died to the old sin nature's control over your life. Therefore,
you died to the old sin nature's control over your life, because what is true of Him is true of you. So, a Christian is now ruled by the sovereign
authority of the indwelling Holy Spirit. He cannot live under the dominion of the old sin nature.
Therefore, having said all that, Paul goes on and says, "Because we were baptized into His death, therefore, this is true: We were buried. The
word "buried" looks like this in the Greek Bible: it's "sunthapto." Let's divide this word into two parts. "Sun" is a preposition which means
"with." The last part is a verb: "thapto," which means "to bury." So, what this word means is "to bury with;" "to bury together;" or, "to entomb
with." The word connotes a co-internment in the grave. The Christian and Jesus Christ are buried in the same tomb.
Believing is not a Meritorious Act
This word is only used twice in the New Testament: here in Romans 6:4; and, in Colossians 2:12. In both cases, it is used in the symbolical sense
of identifying a Christian with Christ in His burial, and this burial is portrayed by water baptism. This is grammatically in the aorist tense,
which means that you were buried with Christ at the point when the Holy Spirit baptized you into Christ – when you received Jesus as Savior.
It is passive, which means that it is done to the believer by the Holy Spirit. This is not the result of your seeking something from the Holy
Spirit. This is the result of you receiving Christ as Savior, and automatically God the Holy Spirit baptizes you into Christ. It is not secured on
some meritorious act on your part, in other words. And remember that believing is not a meritorious act. It is just accepting God's word. That is
not a human work. That is not a human doing. Believing is not a human act. It is simply an acceptance of what God has said. So, it's passage. This
is done to you. And it is indicative – a statement of spiritual fact.
Burial
In the Greek sentence, this word "sunthapto" for "buried" stands first in the sentence. When that happens in Greek, that emphasizes that
particular word. Actually what the Greek says is "buried with Him through baptism into death." That's how you would translate it literally:
"buried with Him through baptism into death," therefore. Burial is emphasized for this reason. It connotes a real death. You don't bury what
is living. At least you shouldn't. When you say something is buried, that connotes (that certifies) that the thing is dead, and until it's dead,
you don't bury it. So, the emphasis here is on burial, because with God the Holy Spirit wants emphasized is that you folks had a real death. We're
not just talking about something that's symbolic. We're not talking about something that is a poetic idea. No. Where God is concerned, the life
flowed right out of your body, and you collapsed in death. You did it with Christ on the cross. That was evidenced by the fact that you were not
only dead with Him on the cross, but when they put Him in the tomb, you were right in there with Him.
That is the point of saying that you're buried. That means you were really dead. It was certified by your being put in that tomb. You don't put
people in a tomb until they're actually, bonafide, really dead. So, the Christian really died with Christ on the cross as far as God is concerned.
And once the body is lowered into the grave, that person is, of course, finished with everything that pertained to his life previously. And that's
what we're getting at. He's coming to what he calls "newness of life." That's what he's driving at. He says, "Now, I want to make it very clear
that you are actually in that tomb, because when a person is in the grave, no matter what his troubles were on earth, and no matter how many
people he owes money to, it's done with."
That's one of the nice things about dying. It doesn't matter how much unpaid taxes he's got. He's through
with it. They're never going to collect it. No matter what payments he hasn't made – it's done with. No matter what problems he has of any
kind, they're behind him. No matter what his physical problems; what the pain was; what the agony was; or, what anything. Once he's in the grave,
everything that was above ground is terminated. It's at an end.
That's very important to catch that. You are in the grave because something very fantastic has been terminated with you, relative to your sin
nature. It is very important that you understand that. That grave indicates that it's terminated: not just poetically; not just as it should be;
and, not that it ought to be – it is. Something very dramatically terminated relative to the old sin nature.
We were Buried to the Old Sin Nature
The burial of Jesus Christ certified that His role as the bearer of sin for our salvation was terminated. The job was done, and He was in the grave.
And everything that He was above, at the sin bearer was now an end. Those who were buried with Christ in His death are just as effectively cut off
from everything that related to that sin previously, as He is. So, the old sin nature, which represents everything that is the human problem with
us and God, is terminated in your life. It's over; it's done; and, it's cut off. The old sin nature does not have a thimble full of authority or
power over your life unless you foolishly turn to it and say, "Go ahead and do something to me." Unless you give the authority back to the old sin
nature, it has no capacity over you whatsoever.
Baptism
"Therefore, we were buried with Him;" that is, with Jesus Christ (referring to Jesus Christ): "by." And the word "by" here is the Greek word
"dia." "Dia" here is a preposition and it means "by means of." It indicates the means of our burial with Christ. How do we get buried with Him?
By means of baptism. And here we have one of those transliterated words for baptism: "baptisma," in this case. It's the noun. You can see how we
get "baptism" from that. Now, again, you should be able to translate this word yourself. This means "an act of placing into" or "an act of
introducing into." It connotes identification: "We were buried with Him by means of placing into death." That is what we are saying.
The Baptism of the Holy Spirit
How are we placed into His burial? By the baptism of the Holy Spirit, portrayed by water baptism. What was the reason for this? We are buried
with Him. We are placed "into," and the Greek word is "eis." That's the preposition indicating "entrance:" "into His death, which is "thanatos."
"Thanatos" is a noun. It refers to the spiritual and physical deaths of Jesus Christ for the sins of the world on the cross. But the Greek word
has the word "the" in front of it. It is "the thanatos." It is "the death," because God the Holy Spirit is specifically pointing
His finger at the One on the cross – the death borne by the God-man, Jesus Christ, while He bore the sins of the world upon Him.
In Romans 5:12, you will remember that Paul has said that the guilt of Adam's sin was imputed to all mankind. Adam actually did the sinning, but
we all were included in the guilt of what he did. Now, in Romans 6:4, Paul says, "Jesus Christ died to pay the penalty for sin and to satisfy
divine justice. Jesus did the actual dying. But all we believers are included in the benefits of that death, and we are reckoned as having died
with Him. Because we have been placed by the Holy Spirit into union with Jesus Christ, we are united with the death of Christ. What He did in that
payment for sin, we are viewed as having done in payment for sin. Through our baptism into His death, we also share his burial. As we sinned in
Adam, we died for sin in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Positional Truth
Now what are we talking about? Well, obviously you did not actually die in tomb. You were not actually placed into it, but God reckons you so.
This is the area called positional truth. We will be looking at that a little more later. We are just mentioning it now – positional truth.
This is a position that you have relative to God's viewpoint. It's not an experience. It's not something you feel. This is positional truth.
This is a very great biblical truth. It is one that is at the heart of putting your soul at ease in your relationship to God and in the security
of your soul for all eternity. It is positional truth. When you understand positional truth, then you understand how God can still take you into
His heaven in spite of the immorality you may be guilty of someplace along the line. Some act of immorality does not affect positional truth.
Abraham
Abraham was a great saint of God. Abraham believed God, and what does the Bible say that did for him? It says that it caused him to receive
absolute righteousness. With absolute righteousness, what came? Eternal life. Abraham had eternal life. Abraham had absolute righteousness.
He had eternal life. He was ready for heaven. Then he gets into that fouled-up situation with Hagar, and bringing Ishmael, and the Arab world
from Ishmael into the picture, and everything gets all fouled-up. And it brings a lot of grief into the life of Abraham. But Abraham never lost
his position of salvation for one second. Positional truth preserved Abraham through the whole thing. And I'll tell you something else. The great
blessings upon Abraham that God had given him were not basically affected by Abraham's sin. He got way out of line, but grace had given him the
blessings – not something that Abraham did. And positional truth in grace preserved those blessings.
David
David's another great example. David also trusted in God for salvation. He received absolute righteousness. He trusted God to care for sins.
We've already read earlier in the book of Romans how relaxing it is for a man who has placed that problem with God (David has said). David
received absolute righteousness. David received eternal life. David was in a position of security of his salvation. David was in a position
with God of being in the family of God. And nothing could change that. David was in the position of being in Christ, Who was yet to come.
David comes along, and gets fouled-up in the sin of adultery and the sins of murder. That brings a lot of grief into his life, and discipline
along the line later. But it didn't touch that position one bit.
Sometimes you hear somebody say, "Oh, here was David. He was a wonderful man. How does the Bible describe him? Well, God says, 'David, you're a
man after my own heart.'" Then they get to having to teach the lesson about the adultery stuff and about the murder stuff. And they say, "Oh,
well, that's kind of funny. How is a man after God's own heart guilty of murder and adultery? That makes me uncomfortable." You do know what the
solution generally is, even among fundamentalists who should know the Bible better? They say, "Well, David wasn't a believer when he did that.
He quit fooling around after he was a believer." That is not true. David was a believer, but he was in position with God of eternal life. He was
in a position of absolute righteousness. And that position in salvation was something different from his experience.
David got a lot of discipline for his sin as you and I do. But it never touched his position. Grace had made David what he is. Grace had given
him that position of honor. So, what grace gives you is secured by your position in Christ. Your position in what? In His death. And you've died
to all that. Grace secures your position in Christ in His death. Boy, that's wonderful.
And you would think that we could stand up in church and sing about this. Sometimes I invite you to take the hymnbook, and you just come through it,
and see how many hymns you can find that stress positional truth. They all stress our fellowship; our experience; our feelings; and, so on. But few
of them say, "I'm a lowdown sinner. I can't get myself straightened out, but my position in grace keeps me secure forever." Those aren't very
singable words. And positional truth is not often sung in our hymns, because the Bible teachers have missed it.
So, Romans 6:4 is a very big verse. It is bigger than you may have thought at first when you walked in here. It is God telling you that you have
been so placed into the death of Christ as to have a position of union with the Son of God that accrues everything that he is, and that he has
done, and all of his benefits to your account in a way that can never be severed from you. Grace has given it to you, and grace will never take
it away. What you have earned, you can lose. But what grace has given can never be lost again.
So, dying with Christ is not something that's going to happen to you, or that you ought to seek to happen to you. You see these
crucified-with-Christ characters. Every now and then somebody comes along and starts preaching sermons on self-crucifixion or being crucified
with Christ. We used to have a lot of them here in the old days. Fortunately, they have all bled themselves dry and disappeared. But there is
this idea of something that you are going to do. No. You've already had it done. You've been crucified with Him. You're dead with Him. It has
happened. If it hasn't, you're not even born-again.
This same positional principle is stated in Galatians 2:20, and that is the where Paul says, "I am crucified with Christ." The basic thought of
Galatians 2:20 is, "I am crucified with Christ. That's my position. That's where I am. That's where I'm located." And all of my living is in
terms of my position – not in terms of how I should act and how I should do.
So we will translate the opening part of verse 4 in this way: "We therefore, entombed with Him by means of this being placed into His death.
The next part talks about being raised to a new life: "That" is the word "hina." The word "hina" means "in order that." Paul is going to introduce
a purpose: "In order that as." And here, let me show you something in Greek: You have the word "hosper." "Hosper" here introduces the first part of
a comparison. The last part of verse 4 is a very dramatic comparison that has monumental implications to us in our daily lives. "Hosper" is the
first part: as a thing is true on one side. A little later, he's going to add the words "even so." "Even so" is the Greek word "houtos." "Hosper"
indicates the first part of the comparison; and, "houtos," a little later, is going to show us what the conclusion is.
So, we start with "as," indicating the first part of this comparison: "as Christ." This is the God-man with His messianic name: "was raised up"
("egeiro"). This word refer to the resurrection from the dead of Jesus Christ. It's aorist tense. Aorist means a point in time past. It's the
point on Easter Sunday morning. And that body was now resurrected as a sinless body, as the pattern of the bodies that we are going to have.
Jesus Christ, at that point, was raised up physically. It is passive voice, which indicates that He was raised from the dead by God the Father.
The Power of God
Romans 4:25 has already taught us that God the Father raised the Son in order to show us the justification was a reality – that the Son's
provision had satisfied the integrity of God. If the integrity of God had not been satisfied, Romans 4:25 indicates that Jesus Christ would never
have been raised physically. And He was raised "from," and this is the word "ek," indicating source. And what he was raised from was "the dead"
("nekros"). This is an adjective here used for physical death. And he was raised "by," and the word "by" is "dia." "Dia" is a preposition
indicating the means. We say "by means of," and that is "by means of glory," which is the Greek word "doxa." The word "doxa" means "a good opinion"
or "a possession of honor. Here it refers to the honor that God possesses because of His essence. This is specifically the glory of the Father.
So, it's referring to the essence (the divine attributes) of God the Father in action in raising Jesus Christ. It is referring primarily to the
power of God.
We are told in several Scriptures that it is the power of God that raised Christ from the dead (1 Corinthians 6:14, 2 Corinthians 13:4). So, what
we have here in the idea of glory – the glory of God, speaking of His honor, is the honor of His attribute, particularly the attribute of
His omnipotence. The Father was the agent in the resurrection of the Son. We have had that previously taught us here in Romans 4:24-25. The glory
of the Father's omnipotence, then, is what is primarily in view.
Colossians 1:11 speaks about the power of His glory (the omnipotence), which is part of the essence of God. God has glory and God has honor
because of Who He is, and because of what He is. And what he is, is His essence. And this is exercised with complete integrity in raising Jesus
Christ. So, just as that was done on the one hand, that Christ was raised up from the dead by the power (the omnipotence) of the Father: "even so."
We Should Walk in this Way
Now we come to the "houtos" part, which is the conclusion of this comparison: "In this way also, we should walk." And the word "walk" is "peripateo."
"Peripateo" is a word used figuratively here to signify the whole round and activities of one's lifestyle. It's in the aorist tense – your
life viewed as a whole, with emphasis on results. It's active: the lifestyle chosen by the believer (the lifestyle in which he chooses to walk.)
But it's subjunctive. Subjunctive is always a potential mood. It means that the death of Jesus Christ to one's old sin nature makes it possible to
have a new moral freedom. It refers to capacity for godliness, but a capacity for godliness which many Christians never live.
Newness of Life
We should walk "in" something. "In" indicates location in what" In what is called "newness of life." The word "newness" is "kainotes." This is
from another word (from "kainos"). "Kainos" means new in the sense of "unaccustomed" or "unusual," rather than new in a sense of time. There's
the word "neos," which means "new in the sense of time."
For example, new wine in terms of time ("neos") is referred to in Matthew 9:17, Mark 2:22, and Luke 5:37-39. But you also have new wine in the
kingdom. And that new wine in the kingdom is going to be new in terms of its character; in terms of its being unusual; and, in terms of its being
different from the world. And it uses the word "kainos" to describe the new wine of the kingdom age (Matthew 26:29, Mark 14:25).
So, "kainotes" means "a new quality as a new creation in Christ Jesus" (2 Corinthians 5:17). Actually, what this word connotes is "a new lifestyle
under the control of the Holy Spirit." A good translation of the word "kainotes" is "freshness" – a fresh, new lifestyle. This is something
totally different. This is something totally unrelated to the days when the old sin nature was your control. The word for life is "zoe," and it
refers to the principle of life – a lifestyle opposite to the death ("thanatos") style of the old sin nature.
Now, there is a significance here of the fact that we should walk in a newness (a freshness of lifestyle), because we are no longer dominated by
the old sin nature. We're freed from that. We're dominated by God the Holy Spirit. So, next time we're going to pick it up here – this new
lifestyle that is made possible because you're no longer a slave to the sin nature. You're the victor. You're above it all. The problem is how to
do it.
Dr. John E. Danish, 1977
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