READINGS ON THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS (6)
[p. 66] READINGS ON THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS (6)
JT That which has engaged us heretofore might be regarded as referring to what is external, or outside of one, but this chapter deals with what is inside; the apostle speaks of it as “sin that dwelleth in me”.
Rem As regards what was outside Paul could say, “Touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless” (Philippians 3:6). But, here, he makes it clear that there was one thing from which he could not escape, namely, what was inside, and to which “Thou shalt not lust” applied.
JT In taking up man as fallen, God first takes account of the things characterising him that are undeniable and public — his sins, and then, after chapter 5, certain things that affect him externally, especially death, and sin as dominating the world. Then He shows how sin is replaced by righteousness and death by eternal life. So all that which relates to man, viewed externally, is disposed of in the first six chapters — the whole question of what has taken place on earth is answered. In verse 18 of chapter 6 we read, “Having got your freedom from sin, ye have become bondmen to righteousness”. Then in verse 23, “For the wages of sin is death; but the act of favour of God, eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord”. One’s external position is thus adjusted in the latter part of chapter 6. In the place of sin there is righteousness, and instead of death being upon one’s spirit, there is eternal life. Whereas, in this chapter and the following one we have that dealt with which is within the believer, and that is a more difficult problem to solve — it is more complex.
Rem The young man, who came to Jesus, said, “All these things have I kept from my youth up:
what lack I yet?” (Matthew 19:20). So with Paul, outwardly there was nothing that anyone could put a finger upon, and yet there was the question of the nature — of that which was inside, and it made itself known in lust. It is that which makes a man cry out, “O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me out of this body of death?”
JT The young man had kept all these things; but the Lord said, “Go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me. But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful: for he had great possessions”. I suppose the Lord’s words discovered covetousness in his heart.
Rem There was nothing inconsistent externally; but there was that within which marks the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. No one of us can escape it naturally.
BTF Do you take Romans 7 as soul history?
JT Yes. It refers to what goes on within. Chapter 6 adjusts you in regard to what is outside of you, a very difficult problem to solve — how a christian is to conduct himself in the world, in view of the fact that he is converted, has the Spirit of God, and has been baptised. This chapter has regard to what is inside of one and which is therefore more complex. It is more difficult on account of the contracted area — you have to deal at close quarters.
Rem I suppose all of us who have had to do with God have sooner or later experienced something of what we get in this chapter.
JT No one really knows deliverance, as we call it, without this experience. I use the word ‘deliverance’ to refer to what is inside — sin that dwells in man naturally. It becomes a difficult problem for our souls, and unless it is gone through, in some sense, the soul is not really free before God.
[p. 68] Rem I would go as far as to say that if there are any who have had the joy of forgiveness of sins, and afterward you see no deep concern about sin itself, such souls have yet a good deal to go through. The time will come when they will experience a great deal of sorrow on account of what they find inside. I see some who go along for years with very little exercise; satisfied with the forgiveness of their sins, but they have a big lesson yet to learn. It is the explanation of what we sometimes see — some who have been for years in the place of believers, breaking bread maybe, and there comes a time when they pass through real misery of soul — they then begin to learn this lesson.
CB What is the light that enters one’s soul that causes one to get into this deliverance?
JT “The married woman is bound by law to her husband so long as he is alive; but if the husband should die, she is clear from the law of the husband”. The law rules over a man as long as he lives. The law is still in force — it is not abrogated, it applies to those who live in the flesh. It applies to those who are lawless, impious, sinful and the like, hence the only way from under its rule is to die. “If the husband should die, she is clear from the law of the husband ... So that, my brethren, ye also have been made dead to the law by the body of the Christ, to be to another, who has been raised up from among the dead”. That is the light which enters the soul. Death has intervened and the law has no more force in that Christ has died. Only you have to accept the fact that you have become dead to it by the body of Christ.
EH Why the body of Christ?
JT Because it was that in which the will of God was carried out and in which the curse of the law was borne.
Rem “Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree” (Galatians 3:13). He took up the curse of the law, as well as taking up the question of liabilities, so in this chapter we have the way in which the body of Christ, the death of Christ, is our deliverance from law, because our death is seen in His death.
JT The book of Deuteronomy deals with this subject. If a man were hanged, his body was not to remain all night upon a tree, “For he that is hanged is accursed of God” (Deuteronomy 21:23). It was a commandment as to what was to take place after the Israelites were in Canaan, which enables one to form a judgment as to what hanging signifies. The suggestion is found in Genesis 9, “cursed be Canaan”. As soon as they take possession of the land hanging becomes prominent. It is the form of capital punishment Joshua used in regard to the Canaanites — not in regard of Achan (Joshua 7 and Joshua 10).
Rem In regard of Ham there was the violation of what might be called an original law of nature, so the curse rested.
JT Disregard of parental authority.
BTF Would you say we get here in the opening figure a new principle of life, by which the soul is enabled to see the way of deliverance as set forth in the two husbands? The first was the law, then married to Another, upon which you get the supply of affection, which is really important in regard to deliverance.
JT So that the new Husband comes in at the end, I suppose. “I thank God, through Jesus Christ our Lord”. There must be a new marital link.
BTF But you get a new link mentioned at the outset of the chapter.
Rem I suppose the curse of the law brings in deadness Godward, while that which is taken up in connection with the death and resurrection of Christ produces fruit [p. 70] unto God.
ANW I wondered whether the rod of priestly grace might answer this somewhat. Moses’ rod brought condemnation; but God could continue with them under the rod of priestly grace.
Rem That rod had fruit. It not only budded, but bloomed blossoms, and yielded almonds.
ANW It seemed to bring them to the brazen serpent.
PHP The book of Ruth suggests the new Husband?
BP Is it essential for the soul to pass through this chapter?
JT As we remarked at the beginning, it is essential if the soul is to be really free before God — in liberty. Many begin well but do not go on to the full recognition of the Holy Spirit. In the history of Israel we see how they began with a song of triumph, which would correspond with a soul newly converted — all external matters adjusted and brought to God, happy in one’s conversion, and so on, but then, that song dies out. Miriam joined in the singing of Exodus 15. Our brother has just been remarking about Numbers 20. The rod of priestly grace was in the divine mind; but Moses used his own rod. The rod in God’s mind was the one which had budded — wherein was life. Miriam had just died, that is, her song ended. Many a young soul goes on brightly and happily for a while in the joy of the light they have received, but they do not go on to the judgment of sin in the flesh and the liberty of the Spirit. In Numbers 17 the principle of resurrection life is introduced in connection with the priesthood. There was typically the support of Christ as Priest. God was gradually leading up to the displacement of the flesh. What the flesh is, had not been learned up to that time. Chapter 21 tells us that “the people spake against God, and against Moses”. It shows [p. 71] that after all the favour and divine guidance vouchsafed the flesh remained undetected and unjudged, and at this point exposed itself in opposition to God, and to Christ. It is what we find in our own breasts, though converted for years, hence to meet this painful discovery our resource is found in the Spirit in type, in the springing well, which answers to chapter 8 here; but chapter 7 is the transition from Numbers 20 to 21 where we discover how incorrigible the flesh is.
BP This experience would be in view of life for God here, would it not?
JT Yes. With a view to our being here for God’s pleasure — that we might go into the land.
Rem “In order that we might bear fruit to God”. I like that suggestion of the rod that budded — that of priestly grace. There was not only testimony in the buds and blossoms, but it yielded fruit.
ANW How many of us, I wonder, really reach the point where we say, “I had not had conscience also of lust unless the law had said, Thou shalt not lust”. Do we reach that?
JT We ought to do so. I believe there are many christians who are not intelligent as to indwelling sin; that is, according to the statement here: “sin that dwells in me”. They may know it is there; but how to deal with it, and how to be happy with God in spite of it, is really a great problem.
CAM It does not refer to acts of sin; this is more the state, is it not?
JT The subject really begins with verse 5, “When we were in the flesh”; it refers to a past state. The passage does not refer to normal christian state at all, but to a past state. That is to say, after the first four verses the Spirit of God goes back in our history to bring out this great subject of sin in man, which had its motions at a time when we were [p. 72] in the flesh. This could not be said of a christian in the true sense of the word, for such is not in the flesh, but in the Spirit. The passage is not dealing with a christian strictly speaking. The Spirit of God goes back (verse 5) to a state which existed in its nakedness before christianity came in, “when we were in the flesh”. There was such a time in our previous history. It goes on to say, “The passions of sins, which were by the law, wrought in our members to bring forth fruit to death”.
CAM “When we were in the flesh”. Is it not a matter of exercise as to whether we can really use these words?
JT I think a christian, according to the light the gospel affords, is entitled to say that he is not in the flesh.
ANW Would you not say this chapter is light? The apostle speaks as he does so that a sense of the moral power of the light might be known in our souls.
JT It is light just as chapter 6 is light. This is light as to what is inside of me, and in order to present the subject fully he goes back to the time when I was in the flesh. It applies, strictly speaking, to the Jew before christianity; even if he were converted, as we speak, as David was, or others, he was still “in the flesh”.
JS When do you discover it?
JT I think it is really discovered after one gets the Spirit; but you see, in order to present the subject rightly, he goes back to the time before we got the Spirit — before man could have the Spirit — because he wants to present it in its entirety. It is one who has the Spirit who is writing it.
CB I have heard some christians say they were in doubt as to whether they were converted or not. Yet one would be assured they were christians.
[p. 73] JT A believer is labouring under a great disadvantage unless he is in the light of this chapter; hence the importance of it. It arms one against Satan’s attacks in after years. This chapter is “armour of light” in regard to what is inside of me. There is conflict inside of men, according to Galatians: but whatever suggestion may be made, I say, I am not in the flesh, but in the Spirit. Sin in the flesh is condemned (not forgiven); I accept this and am free of it.
Rem When a man is really getting on in his soul, and begins to come under spiritual exercises, he passes through one of the worst hours in his life, for he then discovers what sin in the flesh is. He is then ready to say, ‘Why, I could never have been converted if this is true of me’. I was going to suggest a very simple illustration: in the previous chapters, leading up to chapter 5, we have fruits, that is, what grow on the tree; but with the young man, to whom we have alluded, and Paul, there had not been any external fruits; but notwithstanding that, the root, the trunk and the branches and the twigs, everything was exactly the same as in others producing the fruits. Now, here in this chapter the nature of the tree is being dealt with, and when I come under spiritual enlightenment, I become aware of the nature of that root and stock; and I am brought to say, “I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing”.
JS Christ comes before the soul as Deliverer at that point, and the Spirit as forming a state, takes the place of the flesh.
Rem And the death of Christ comes in as adjusting all for the conscience.
JT It is well to make it clear that verse 5 is not really dealing with a christian, as some have held. Paul makes it clear that it was what belonged to the past. Then he says in verse 6, “but now”; verse 5 [p. 74] refers to a past dispensation; verse 6 to the present one, to the gospel period. “But now we are clear from the law, having died in that in which we were held, so that we should serve in newness of spirit, and not in oldness of letter”. So that christianity involves serving in newness of spirit. Christians thus serving answer to the mind of God.
PHP When the soul desires to do good, as is supposed here, does not that suppose a germ of christianity in him?
JT The desire to do good was present in Old Testament times. It existed in those who were converted, as we speak, in the Old Testament. The desire to do good was there, as is expressed in verse 18, “To will is there with me, but to do right I find not” — such were hampered. How different the position in verse 6, “But now we are clear from the law, having died in that in which we were held, so that we should serve in newness of spirit, and not in oldness of letter”. The soul is happy now in the performance of good and is not hampered in it.
PHP It seems strange that a man in the flesh should desire to do good.
ANW I see that; but in the young man there was a desire to do good; yet not with the same spring in his heart as seen in this man.
JT Even though one were converted, as living in Old Testament times, one could never be in any other state than “in the flesh”. There was no other state before God until Christ died. No matter how good one’s desires, there was no other state, and in it they were held under the law.
CAM This is simply light. It is not describing a state that a man actually went through, is it?
JT I think the writer went through it.
CAM Is it not then, looking at it abstractly?
JT There is nothing in the way of experience or conduct presented abstractly in Scripture, that is [p. 75] not possible concretely. It has been already passed through. The more sincere a man was, the more force the commandment would have. Mark you, it is the spirituality of the law that kills him. It seems to me the whole force of the ten commandments for him is in the tenth, “Thou shalt not covet”. That was the commandment which slew him.
ARS Is not this the experience of a quickened soul, like Cornelius, for instance?
JT More especially one who is under the law. Verse 7 raises the question of the law, “Is the law sin? Far be the thought. But I had not known sin, unless by law: for I had not had conscience also of lust unless the law had said, Thou shalt not lust”. So that he discerns, it seems to me, that the whole force of the law is in that one commandment, “Thou shalt not lust”. His condition is absolutely hopeless now — he has no standing before God. Why should he have these exercises? Were he not the subject of the work of God, he would not have them.
Rem One greatly admires the wisdom of the whole passage, “So then I myself with the mind serve God’s law; but with the flesh sin’s law”. It does not stop at saying, ‘serve God’; but “serve God’s law”. See the wisdom in it! The law is not obsolete; with the mind I take pleasure in serving it.
JT It clears the ground for the next chapter where it says, “In order that the righteous requirement of the law should be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to flesh but according to Spirit”.
ANW What is the difference between “law” and “commandment”?
JT “Law”, I think, is a general term, referring to what is permanently established; “the commandment” is more specific. A study of Psalm 119 helps as to the variety of terms that a spiritual man uses in dealing with that which expresses the will of God; and I think it would be found that the word ‘commandment’ is to show something specific. Here, I judge the writer refers to the tenth, that is, that one commandment which came home to him so forcibly.
PHP I would like a little help upon the last verse: the mind serving God’s law, and the flesh sin’s law.
JT Let us look at the verses preceding: “For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man: but I see another law in my members, warring in opposition to the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which exists in my members. O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me out of this body of death? I thank God, through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then I myself with the mind serve God’s law; but with the flesh sin’s law”. I think the “inward man” is a being; he says he delighted in the law of God according to it. Whereas, the “mind” would be the active, or combative part — it is that by which the battle is fought, so to speak. It succeeds now through deliverance. The responsible man (”I myself“) is delivered through Christ, and the mind is wholly subservient to him; with it he serves God’s law.
Rem In chapter 12 the mind is viewed as the seat of the intelligence; it is renewed, so as to prove how good and acceptable God’s will is. Then in Ephesians 4 we get, “being renewed in the spirit of your mind”, which is a step further.
JT Here it is initial. The mind has come definitely to take sides with God’s will — it is now subject to it.
BTF You have, “I myself”, as it were, a new person; and then you have the old state — “the flesh”.
JT You have first, “the inward man”. That is the point to get hold of. The inward man is a divine creation; the truth of it is developed elsewhere. In [p. 77] 2 Corinthians 4 we read of it being “renewed day by day”. Here it is the beginning of the thing; he delights in the law of God according to that man; and then he cries out for deliverance from this body of death, and receives it through thanksgiving; “Who shall deliver me out of this body of death? I thank God, through Jesus Christ our Lord”. Now he has deliverance and is victorious. It is not yet the Spirit; he has worked it out by light, and the Spirit comes in later to support him. He has battled it through and has arrived at the point where he thanks God, and now calmly says, “so then, I myself with the mind serve God’s law”.
Rem The question is worked out through the appreciation of the death and resurrection of Christ. So the gospel really fits in in its fulness, when he asks the question, “Who shall deliver me?” The answer is found in the gospel, “through Jesus Christ our Lord”. He thanks God.
BTF When is the deliverance, spoken of here, actually brought about?
JT It is worked out on the principle of light. The next chapter gives us the support — you are supported in this by the Spirit. In spite of the fact that he has reached victorious ground, he would soon be displaced, if he had not the Spirit; so the Spirit is emphasised in the next chapter, and takes the place of the flesh. “Ye are not in flesh but in Spirit, if indeed God’s Spirit dwell in you”.
BTF Some have said it is a moment when the believer would not only be set free in spirit but in body — in actuality.
JT This is soul history, because he still recognises sin there. It is the present condition of the christian which is in view.
CAM It is a matter of the mind because it is light.
JT The Spirit is not mentioned in this chapter.
ANW [p. 78] Would you say he has discovered the inward man, because he has discovered Christ — the new Husband?
JT I think the inward man is a moral being. It is spoken of more definitely in 2 Corinthians 4. Here, he delights in the law of God according to the inward man. Then he says, “I myself with the mind serve God’s law”. It is complete deliverance. He says, “I myself ... serve God’s law”.
EH What was on your mind about this giving of thanks?
JT It is normal christianity. The apostle begins in chapter 1 with man in the flesh. An unthankful state marks him. Even in regard of the ordinary benefits of creation, there is no real giving thanks to God on the part of man. The moral value of giving of thanks is very great. I think it is just there that deliverance comes. He asks the question, “Who shall deliver me out of this body of death?” He then thanks God: the answer is in thanksgiving. And I think the Deliverer becomes the Husband.