Temporal Truth

Temporal Truth
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The terms "flesh," "sin," "sin nature," and "old man" are synonymous with one another. The term "sin nature" is used because it is a description of what it produces. The term "flesh" is used because describes the location in the physical body--our outward man. Romans 5:12 explains how the sin nature entered into the world through one man: Adam.

Romans chapter 6 is the transitional chapter of the book of Romans. In chapter 6, the emphasis changes from positional truth to temporal truth. Paul always teaches this way. He begins with positional truth and then, about halfway through, he switches to temporal truth. You cannot successfully live the Christian life until you first know who you are in Christ. We can think of our relationship with God as positional truth and our fellowship with God as temporal truth.

God sees the believer already at the goal; He sees us in Christ. We are seated with Him in heavenly places. That is a positional truth. Positionally, we are sanctified. Positionally we have wisdom. Positionally, we have the mind of Christ. In fact, positionally we have every answer we will ever need in this life. Yet, day by day, we are learning to catch up with who we really are in Christ. We are righteous on the inside, but getting that righteousness from the inside to the outside is temporal truth, also known as sanctification.

Let me give you an illustration. An infant boy becomes a son the moment he is born. That does not mean when he turns twenty years old he will be twenty times more a son than he was when he was born. The fact that he became a son the moment he was born is relationship. Nothing can sever his relationship with his parents. However, a son's fellowship with his parents can change day by day and even minute by minute. Fellowship can be "up" one moment and "down" the next. In some cases, it can be completely severed. If a son does something he is not allowed to do and is punished for it, at that moment he is out of fellowship. He is still a son to his parents; he is not out of relationship, but he is out of fellowship.

The moment we are born again, there are many things that belong to us through Jesus Christ. First, we are given everlasting life.

1 John 5:11:

And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.

John 10:28:

And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.

John 3:16

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

Secondly, we have been made righteous. In 2 Corinthians 5:21 we are told we have been made the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus.

Thirdly, we have an eternal destiny according to Ephesians chapter 1 and verse 5.

The list goes on and on. We have an eternal sonship, we have an eternal heirship, we have an eternal priesthood, we have an eternal kingship, we are eternally sanctified, we are eternally accepted in the beloved. All of these things belong to us eternally.

It is possible to be out of fellowship with the Lord, but still maintain a relationship with Him. First Corinthians 3:1 says, "And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ." Notice the terms "carnal" and "babes." Immediately following these terms is the statement "in Christ." "Carnal" indicates a condition of fellowship, but "in Christ" refers to a relationship. Carnal Christians are children of God, but they are out of fellowship with the Lord. Follow me: sin does not separate us from our relationship with the Lord; sin separates us from our fellowship with Him.

The way we enter into relationship is Acts chapter 16 and verse 31 and Romans chapter 10, verses 9 and 10. The Acts passage says, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved." The Romans passage tells us if we believe in our hearts that God raised Jesus from the dead and confess with our mouths that Jesus is Lord and Savior, we will be saved. The way we enter into relationship with God is through the new birth—receiving Christ as our Savior.

Christianity is not morality. Some people confuse the two. A person is not a great Christian because he quit smoking or drinking or taking drugs; every day sinners quit doing these things. Spirituality is not morality. Spirituality should produce morality, but spirituality, in and of itself, is not morality. There are many moral sinners, but being moral does not make them spiritual. The thing that makes an individual spiritual is being led by the Holy Spirit and by the Word of God. Sinners cannot be led by the Holy Spirit: they cannot be led by the Word of God. They are led by their own conscience; they are led by their own will.

The actions of sin do not separate us from eternal life; they separate us from fellowship with God. First John 1:9 was not written to sinners: it was written to believers as the means of getting back into fellowship with God. First John chapter 1 and verse 9 tells us if we confess our sins, God is faithful and just to forgive us of our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Fellowship is temporal. When we are in fellowship we are called "spiritual." When we are out of fellowship we are called "carnal." The way we get out of fellowship is by sinning, and the way we get back into fellowship is by confessing that sin.

When we are spiritual, according to 1 Corinthians chapter 3, we are laying aside treasure in Heaven. The treasure we are laying aside is gold, silver, and precious stones. When we are out of fellowship with the Lord we face discipline. God does not discipline sinners; He punishes sinners. You are not to punish your children; you are to discipline your children. Punishment has an air of wrath about it — an air of anger about it. God never chastens us out of wrath or displeasure. God chastens us out of a motive of love.

God's discipline is found in Hebrews chapter 12, verses 5 through 11. I want you to notice that these verses are addressed to believers: "My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him: For whom the Lord loveth he chasleneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons. Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live? For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his hollness. Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward It yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby."

We are children of God, but when we sin, we are still reproved and disciplined by the Word of God. We do not lose eternal life because we mess up. We do not lose eternal life because we sin. Neither do we lose our righteousness because of sin.

Again, chapter 6 is the transitional point of the book of Romans. It is the point at which we begin to get into temporal truth. Paul begins in verse 1: "What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?"

The word "sin" in this verse refers to the sin nature.

In Romans5:20 Paul says, "Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound." As we have previously discussed, the word for "entered" in the Greek is an acting term. It refers to a minor actor who walked onstage until the major actor entered. Once the major actor entered, the minor actor left. The law, in this verse, is described as a minor actor, and the minor actor came on to expose the villain.

The word "offence" in this verse is a reference to the sin nature. The "much more abounding" is the major actor walking on stage. The law left the stage because the major actor entered. Galatians chapter 3 and verse 19 says that the law was added until the seed should come. The seed is the Lord Jesus Christ. The law came by Moses, but grace and truth came by the Lord Jesus Christ.

Verse 20 of Romans chapter 5 tells us if we sin, grace abounds. There are some people who hear about the grace of God and have the attitude that says, "Well, since grace abounds where sin abounds, I'll just go out and live a dirty old life just so grace will abound. After all, how would I ever know God's forgiveness if I didn't run out and sin? In fact, I think I'll just do anything I feel like doing because God's grace will abound!"

Two questions are answered in Romans chapter 6 about sin. The first question is found in verse 1: "What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?" In other words, "Can we habitually sin and grace continually abound toward us? Should I run out and continually sin because the more I sin the more grace will abound?" Paul answers the question in verse 2: "God forbid." Paul says, "No! Absolutely not! Don't do it!" He continues to answer the first question in verses two through fourteen.

The second question appears in verse 15. Paul asks, "What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace?" Notice, he does not ask "Shall we continue to sin?" He asks, "Shall we sin?" In other words, the first questions is "Can I habitually sin?" The answer is "No." The second question is "Can I sin once in a while?" The answer is again, "No."

Everyone has committed a sin since becoming a Christian, but the point is that you are not purposefully sinning. The object of the Christian life is to not sin. First John 2:1 says, "My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not." The purpose of the Word of God is to keep the believer from sinning. God does not want us to sin, but notice what this verse goes on to say: "And If any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous." The object of the Christian walk is not "How much can I sin?" The object of the Christian walk is "How can I keep from sinning?"

Romans 6:2 continues: "God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?" Literally this verse says, "How shall we, who died to sin, live any longer therein?" This verse does not say sin died; it says we died. When we were born again, the sin nature did not die; we died to the sin nature.

The sin nature and the Lord Jesus Christ are like two husbands. We used to be married to the sin nature, but when we met Jesus we died and that death broke all ties of the previous marriage. No matter what law we are under throughout the world, one thing is universal: when a husband or wife dies, the other partner is free to remarry. We were married to our first husband—the sin nature, but he did not die; we did. We were loosed from all dominion of him. He is still alive, but we are no longer under his dominion. Now we are under the dominion of the Lord Jesus Christ! We died and we were resurrected!

When we were born again, we were crucified with Christ—we were buried with Him. Then we were resurrected with Him to newness of life; and when we were resurrected, we had the legal right to marry Him because death separated us from the previous husband. Once the old husband discovered we were remarried, he began to knock on the door. He began to come around to entice us, and unless we learn about all the rights and privileges of the new marriage, we will not know how to resist him. Satan still comes around to flirt with us. When we sin, we commit adultery with the old husband. Sin is turning away from God; it is committing adultery.

Verse 2 of Romans chapter 6 says again, "God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin (or 'how shall we that died to sin'), live any longer therein?" The word "therein" literally means "under it's control." Verse 3: "Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?" I want you to notice some key words in verse three through thirteen. Verse 3 says, "Know ye not... " Verse 6: "Knowing this..." Verse 9: "Knowing..." Verse 11: "Like wise reckon..." Verse 13 "...yield yourselves unto God."

In verses 3 through 10 we are given the formula for yielding. Yielding does not come first; yielding comes last. We must know something before we can yield. Yielding is the result of knowledge. The first knowledge statement is found in verses 3 through 5: "Knowing that we died with Him: knowing that we were buried with Him." The next knowledge statement is found in verses 6 through 8: "Knowing that we were crucified with Him; knowing that we died with Him; knowing that we were buried with him." Verses 9 and 10 tell us we must know we were resurrected with Him.

In other words, there are a minimum of three things we must know before yielding. Number 1: We must know we were buried with Him. Number 2: We must know we died with Him. Number 3: We must know we were resurrected with Him. Then what? Verse 11: "Likewise, reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord."

What separated us from sin was the fact that we died. We died with the Lord Jesus Christ. We were buried with the Lord Jesus Christ. We were raised with the Lord Jesus Christ. Now we must reckon ourselves to be dead unto sin but alive unto God. If we reckon ourselves dead to sin, it becomes easy to yield ourselves to the Lord.

Romans chapter 6 and verse 13 says, "Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God." The word "yield" in this verse is the same Greek word we find in Romans chapter 12 and verse 1: "Beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present (yield) your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable (logical) service. " Notice, verse 1 tells us what to do, but it does not tell us how to do it. In verse 1 we have the finished product. In verse 2 we are told how to get to that finished product.

Verse 2: "And be not conformed to this world, but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God." Paul starts in verse 1 saying, "God wants your body." But, what is it that helps us to yield our body to Him? Verse 2: by the renewing of our mind, according to the Word of God. What is it that renews our mind? It is knowledge, knowledge, knowledge, knowledge. Then what? Then we can present our body unto God a living sacrifice. Yieldedness is a result of knowledge.

Bob Yandian

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