Chapter # 6 Paragraph # 3 Study # 3
September 11, 2016
Humble, Texas
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Thesis: Because of the incremental nature of God's "redemption", "believers" must camp on the truth that brings about servitude to The Righteousness so that they may move forward in sanctification.
Introduction: In our last study we noted that Paul deliberately returned to the foundations of his doctrine of grace: God acting for those who trust Him to accomplish His will in and through them. At the root of this doctrine is the reality that men receive grace when they hear/yield/present at the heart level with true doctrine in clear view. There is no application of "grace" by God to anyone who resists "truth". James clearly says that humility before God precedes the extension of grace and that refusal keeps God from such action.
The study before us points to the basic mechanics of this "grace" process.
- I. Freedom From The Sin and Bondage to The Righteousness.
- A. The two issues go together.
- 1. The Sin entered when Adam acted on his disbelief.
- a. Prior to this action, Adam was the free servant of righteousness.
- b. After this action, Adam and all who were "in him" became slaves to The Sin.
- 2. The Righteousness entered when the principle of Promise/Faith was initiated by The God.
- a. Prior to this initiation, bondage to The Sin was absolutely dominant.
- b. After this initiation, bondage to The Righteousness became a possibility at all points of "faith".
- 1) The Righteousness is that which is produced by God through an alternative actor.
- 2) The Righteousness is implemented when "faith" in the alternative actor is exercised.
- 3. There is no "in-between" reality: one is either a slave to The Sin or a slave to The Righteousness.
- B. The critical element of determination of "bondage" is the "hear/yield/present" process of "faith" in true doctrine delivered by grace to the hearer.
- II. The Realities of Bondages Are Dynamic and Not Static.
- A. God's "redemption" is, as yet, incomplete because it is an incrementally developed reality.
- 1. The "redemption" of the soul is absolute through identity with Jesus Christ so that "sin" can never again be "lord".
- 2. The "redemption" of the body is only after literal resurrection; thus leaving us to deal with what Paul calls "the weakness of the flesh".
- B. Because "the weakness of the flesh" is a permanent reality until resurrection, we must hear and yield to the truth of our identity with The Alternative Actor so that He is free to act on our behalf.
- 1. Speaking "as a human being" on account of this weakness means that we have a most fundamental need to understand the details of the process.
- 2. The original process that leads to bondage to The Sin is the same process that leads to bondage to The Righteousness.
- a. The original process is one of "presenting the members to uncleanness and to The Lawlessness unto The Lawlessness", a progressively degenerative spiral into death.
- b. The alternative to this original is one of "presenting the members to The Righteousness unto sanctification", a progressively regenerative spiral unto Life.
- III. The Process Stands or Falls on the Basis of "Faith" or "Disbelief".
