The Questions That Are Always Asked When The Gospel Is Preached

The Questions That Are Always Asked When the Gospel is Preached – by Des Ford

Jun 15, 2015 1906

Paul asks a question in Romans 6:1, “What shall we say then, are we to continue in sin that grace may abound?” Wherever the gospel is preached, two questions always come up. If they haven’t come up at your local church, it’s because the gospel isn’t being preached. The two questions always are: (1) Are you making void the law? (2) Do you mean we can sin then and get away with it?

They asked these questions of Jesus when He received sinners and ate with them. When He said to an adulteress, “Neither do I condemn thee, go and sin no more,” they said, “He’s making void the law! Can we sin then and get away with it?”

They asked Paul the same in Romans 6:2. But I want you to notice his answer, “By no means, how can we who died to sin, still live in it?”

Now, in the previous chapter, the 18th verse, Paul had said, “As one man’s trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one Man’s act of righteousness leads to acquittal and life for all men.” What Paul had said in Romans chapter 5 was this: The first Adam ruined us, the second Adam redeemed us. You were in the first Adam, legally, when he ruined you. The seed which begat the world was in Adam. We were in him when he ruined us.

But says Paul, “When the second Adam came as the new representative of the race, you were in Him. And you died with Him.” And when Satan accuses us of sin and failure, our Mediator Jesus says, “Father, he has died for that sin. He died with Me.”.

That’s what Romans 6:2 means. “By no means. How can we who died to sin still live in it?” Paul is saying, “Don’t you know you died with Jesus; we’ve been crucified with Him. We were crucified with Him, buried with Him, rose with Him, ascended with Him, and are now sat down in heavenly places with Him.” That’s how God counts every one of us. Stumbling, bumbling sinners, though we be, God counts us believers as having sat down in heavenly places. We are perfect, from the moment we believe.

So Paul is saying in Romans 6, “Shall we sin then? God forbid.” You can’t accept the death of Jesus and be counted in that, without accepting the risen Jesus. You rose with Him as well. His battle and victory over the world, the flesh and the Devil are yours. You are conquerors. You need not yield to temptation, when consciously tempted. The same Paul said a little earlier “All fall short”. Ah, there is all the world of difference between our stumblings and our cherishings. No Christian cherishes sin… Every Christian has besetting sins into which he stumbles, and which he hates. There is all the world of difference. The world between damnation and salvation.

So Paul is saying “You died with Jesus, you can’t accept His death without accepting His risen life. You can’t accept the Second Member of the Godhead without accepting the Third.” Paul is saying that justification and sanctification are never separate, but please note, they are always distinct. Let me say it again, our ease of mind will depend on it: justification (being declared righteous) and sanctification (being made righteous) are never separate, but they are always distinct.

– Des Ford. Rom 8:27–32. Adapted from “Perfect in a Moment.”

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