dominion from Adam to Moses. They didn't partake from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil as did Adam, but they still sinned against God.
5:20 "God's grace cannot be faithfully preached to unbelievers until His Law is preached and man's corrupt nature is exposed. It is impossible for a person to fully realize his need for God's grace until he sees how terribly he has failed the standards of God's Law. It is impossible for him to realize his need for mercy until he realizes the magnitude of his guilt." John MacArthur CHAPTER 6 What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?
2 God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?
3 Do you not know, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?
4 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
5 For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection:
6 Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.
"I would sooner bring one sinner to Jesus than unravel all the mysteries of the Word, for salvation is the thing we are to live for."
CHARLES SPURGEON 7 For he that is dead is freed from sin.
8 Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him:
9 Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dies no more; death has no more dominion over him.
10 For in that he died, he died to sin once: but in that he lives, he lives to God.
11 Likewise reckon you also yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God through Jesus Christ our Lord.
12 Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in the lusts thereof.
13 Neither yield your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin: but yield yourselves to God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God.
14 For sin shall not have dominion over you: for you are not under the law, but under grace.
15 What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid.
16 Do you not know, that to whom you yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants you are to whom you obey; whether of sin to death, or of obedience to righteousness?
17 But God be thanked, that you were the servants of sin, but you have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you.
QUESTIONS & OBJECTIONS 5:12 "Why is there suffering? That proves there is no 'loving' God."
Study the soil for a moment. It naturally produces weeds. No one plants them; no one waters them. They even stubbornly push through cracks of a dry sidewalk. Millions of useless weeds sprout like there's no tomorrow, strangling our crops and ruining our lawns. Pull them out by the roots, and there will be more tomorrow. They are nothing but a curse!
Consider how much of the earth is uninhabitable. There are millions of square miles of barren deserts in Africa and other parts of the world. Most of Australia is nothing but miles and miles of useless desolate land.
Not only that, but the earth is constantly shaken with massive earthquakes. Its shores are lashed with hurricanes; tornadoes rip through creation with incredible fury; devastating floods soak the land; and terrible droughts parch the soil. Sharks, tigers, lions, snakes, spiders, and disease-carrying mosquitoes attack humanity and suck its life's blood. The earth's inhabitants are afflicted with disease, pain, suffering, and death.
Think of how many people are plagued with cancer, Alzheimer's, multiple sclerosis, heart disease, emphysema, Parkinson's, and a number of other debilitating illnesses.
Consider all the children with leukemia, or people born with crippling diseases or without the mental capability to even feed themselves. All these things should convince thinking minds that something is radically wrong.
Did God blow it when He created humanity? What sort of tyrant must our Creator be if this was His master plan?
Sadly, many use the issue of suffering as an excuse to reject any thought of God, when its existence is the very reason we should accept
Him. Suffering stands as terrible testimony to the truth of the explanation given by the Word of God.
But how can we know that the Bible is true? Simply by studying the prophecies of Matthew 24, Luke 21, and 2 Timothy 3. A few minutes of openhearted inspection will convince any honest skeptic that this is no ordinary book. It is the supernatural testament of our Creator about why there is suffering ... and what we can do about it.
The Bible tells us that God cursed the earth because of Adam's transgression. Weeds are a curse. So is disease. Sin and suffering cannot be separated. The Scriptures inform us that we live in a fallen creation. In the beginning, God created man perfect, and he lived in a perfect world without suffering. It was heaven on earth. When sin came into the world, death and misery came with it.
Those who understand the message of Holy Scripture eagerly await a new heaven and a new earth "wherein dwells righteousness." In that coming Kingdom there will be no more pain, suffering, disease, or death. We are told that no eye has ever seen, nor has any ear heard, neither has any man's mind ever imagined the wonderful things that God has in store for those who love Him (1 Corinthians
2:9). Think for a moment what it would be like if food grew with the fervor of weeds.
Consider how wonderful it would be if the deserts became incredibly fertile, if creation stopped devouring humanity. Imagine if the weather worked for us instead of against us, if disease completely disappeared, if pain was a thing of the past, if death was no more.
The dilemma is that we are like a child whose insatiable appetite for chocolate has caused his face to break out with ugly sores.
He looks in the mirror and sees a sight that makes him depressed. But instead of giving up his beloved chocolate, he consoles himself by stuffing more into his mouth. Yet, the source of his pleasure is actually the cause of his suffering.
The whole face of the earth is nothing but ugly sores of suffering. Everywhere we look we see unspeakable pain. But instead of believing God's explanation and asking Him to forgive us and change our appetite, we run deeper into sin's sweet embrace. There we find solace in its temporal pleasures, thus intensifying our pain, both in this life and in the life to come.
18 Being then made free from sin, you became the servants of righteousness.
19 I speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your flesh: for as you have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity to iniquity; even so now yield your members servants to righteousness to holiness.
20 For when you were the servants of sin, you were free from righteousness.
21 What fruit had you then in those things whereof you are now ashamed? for the end of those things is death.
22 But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, you have your fruit to holiness, and the end everlasting life.
23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus 6:6 See 1 Peter 4:1 comment.
6:14 In Christ we are sheltered under the umbrella of grace from the rain of the wrath of the Law. Paul is not saying that the Law has been done away with. Jesus Himself said that He hadn't come to do away with the Law. We
"establish" the Law in Christ (Romans 3:31).
We corroborate it. It still remains as the standard of God's righteousness, and it will be the means by which He will judge the world.