Romans 6:1-2
Verse 18..."Being then made free from sin, you became servants of
righteousness." Friends, what were we freed from? Were we set free
from sin to become once again servants of the law? Are we now the servants
of righteousness because of what we do and don't do? How many were made
the righteousness of Christ Jesus, and how many have been justified
before God to be counted as servants? For how many sins and how many
sinners did Jesus died for? If Jesus died for the sins of the whole
world, then how many are righteous and how many are servants?
What is a servant? How has Evangelical Christianity defined a 'servant'?
What do they base it upon? Isn't it works? Don't they only consider
servants those who have believed or who are doing missionary work, or
are of great ministerial reputation, or just people who are doing good
works? Isn't that what the Jews were basing their relationship with
God on? Weren't they considering themselves as servants simply because
they believed that they were justify before God through the law of Moses?
Didn't they see themselves as being righteous because of the law?
So what is the difference between what the Jews of Paul's days were
doing back then, and what the Evangelical Church is doing and teaching
today? There's not one bit of difference. Like the Jews, Evangelical
Christianity base their relationship with God on their own righteousness
and by how much they serve God by their works. So what is it that keeps
a person believing that they are accepted with God base on what they
do or don't do? The answer is a 'sin conscience' mind. When a person
continues to believe and be told that they have to confess their sin,
they don't really believe that they have been set free from sin.
Much less believe that they have been made servants because of what
Christ has done, and been made righteous because of Christ righteousness.
They don't really believe-because they don't understand the difference
between the old and the new-that they have died to sin, sin has no more
power over them, they have been raised with Christ and as far as God
is concerned, they are now seated with Christ in heavenly places. Friends,
in verse 19 Paul says to those of the circumcision:
"I speak after the manner of men because of the sickness of your
flesh (mind); for as you have yielded (given) yourselves as servants
of uncleanness, and gone from sin to sin and into more sin; even so
now you ought to be yielding to Christ as servants of righteousness
and holiness." Friends, the law only leads us into more sin consciousness,
for the simple reason that there has never been anyone that has been
able to keep to the entire law without breaking it at some point. James
2:10. ALL of our works are as filthy rags!
Now, unfortunately, the Evangelical Church has twisted these verses
we just covered and turned them into a doctrine of self-righteousness.
The one part out of verse 19 that the Evangelical and the religious
world focus upon the most, is the part where it says: "yield your
members as servants of righteousness and holiness". My question
again is: "Who's righteousness and who's holiness?" If we go back to
every single verse out of chapter 5 we will see that it wasn't, it isn't
and it will never be our holiness nor our righteousness that have made
us approved servants of God.
It is a slap to the face of God and insult to the work of the cross
to think that any one of us have been made free from sin, become servants
of God, been made righteous and holy by what we have done and are doing.
Like the Jews, we spit on the face of Christ when we think that our
freedom, our righteousness and holiness comes by and act of something
we've done. We become twice more a child of the devil by believing and
thinking that converting someone to Christ makes them a servant, righteous
and free before God through an act of their own will. That is about
the most unclean, most sick and sin conscious thing that anyone can
be led to believe and think.
Thank God for Grace!
To be continued...
Grace N Peace
Eddie Narvaez