Gen 26:4 "I will multiply your descendants as the stars of heaven, and will give your descendants all these lands; and by your descendants all the nations of the earth shall be blessed;
Gen 26:5 because Abraham obeyed Me and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes and My laws."
This extension of Faith, even unto keeping Torah, is very important. Remember the parable of the "Ten Virgins" of Matthew 25? It is a picture of the Church awaiting the Bridegroom's return. All 10 had oil and love for the Bridegroom (Yeshua), but only 5 had enough oil to last until the time He arrived. The oil represents Faith and Love; Faith and Love so deep that 5 of the Virgins kept pace with the Bridegroom's requirements and were ready. The other 5 knew Yeshua but did not love Him enough to even do what He said to do. Do you begin to understand why your Faith must be so great that you are willing to follow His Torah? Are you in a Church which has disdain for Torah? Are you "yoked" with a Bridesmaid that has little Faith? Here is an excellent commentary on the parable.
Rom 5:12 Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned-- Rom 5:13 for until the Law sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law.
[Note: The context is of sin entering into the world through Adam. Paul is simply saying here that Torah has no intrinsic "value", good or bad, when sin is not present, sin being the transgression of Torah. I've had Churchy types tell me that Grace means we don't have sin over us anymore, therefore Torah is without value, as this verse says. Of course, this flies in the face of many other verses and is a prime example of purposely taking scripture out of context. It also ignores the fact that believers still sin! You will see how this "Grace perversion doctrine" develops as we continue the study.]
Rom 5:14 Nevertheless death reigned from Adam until Moses, even over those who had not sinned in the likeness of the offense of Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come.
Rom 5:15 But the free gift [Salvation] is not like the transgression. For if by the transgression of the one the many died, much more did the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abound to the many.
Rom 5:16 The gift is not like that which came through the one who sinned; for on the one hand the judgment arose from one transgression resulting in condemnation, but on the other hand the free gift arose from many transgressions resulting in justification.
Rom 5:17 For if by the transgression of the one, death reigned through the one, much more those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.
Rom 5:18 So then as through one transgression there resulted condemnation to all men, even so through one act of righteousness there resulted justification of life to all men.
Rom 5:19 For as through the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, even so through the obedience of the One the many will be made righteous.
Rom 5:20 The Law came in so that the transgression would increase; but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more,
Rom 5:21 so that, as sin reigned in death, even so grace would reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
[Note: Romans 5:12-21 is summed up in verse 20! Sha'ul is saying Torah had to come in to play so Grace would abound even more. In other words, as sin increases, through the breaking of Torah, Grace increases. You have to love Paul's complex way of saying something so simple! Please notice how you still need Torah to define what sin is. And Grace? Grace is not a license to keep sinning because it "covers" your sin, but Grace is EMPOWERMENT to NOT sin! The Church teaches that Grace is a license to sin, that it is a "cover" for sin. (Jude 1)]
To appreciate the context, all of Chapter 6 must be shown.
Rom 6:1 What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase?
Rom 6:2 May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it?
Rom 6:3 Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death?
Rom 6:4 Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.
Rom 6:5 For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection,
Rom 6:6 knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin;
Rom 6:7 for he who has died is freed from sin.
Rom 6:8 Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him,
Rom 6:9 knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, is never to die again; death no longer is master over Him.
Rom 6:10 For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God.
Rom 6:11 Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus.
[Note: A wonderful use of "Baptism" (Mikveh), Death, Slavery, and Resurrection in Christ to illustrate we are "dead" to sin and "Resurrected" to "non-sin", so we may walk in "newness of life"! This takes effort, btw, not just a "cover" for our sins!]
Rom 6:12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its lusts,
Rom 6:13 and do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness; but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God.
Rom 6:14 For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law but under grace.
Rom 6:15 What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? May it never be!
[Note: Ahhh! The classic comment from Churchy types! "I am no longer under law but under grace!" Paul is simply stating, when read in context, that Grace (the empowerment to not sin) is the gift you should be operating under, not the law. The "law", Torah, is that which defines sin. It is also THE set of instructions that help us from committing sin! -- I have come to believe that most Churchy people believe in magic! I've actually had people tell me that Grace will protect them from committing any sin and they don't need to worry about Torah! Then, these same people engage in sin and don't even realize it! Why? Because they don't know Torah and don't have enough Faith to believe Grace will empower them to stop sinning! They believe that Grace is a license to sin!]
Rom 6:16 Do you not know that when you present yourselves to someone as slaves for obedience, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin resulting in death, or of obedience resulting in righteousness?
Rom 6:17 But thanks be to God that though you were slaves of sin, you became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching to which you were committed,
Rom 6:18 and having been freed from sin, you became slaves of righteousness.
("righteousness" - right standing in Torah)
Rom 6:19 I am speaking in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. For just as you presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness, resulting in further lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness, resulting in sanctification.
(present your members as slaves to right standing in Torah, resulting in Sanctification!)
Rom 6:20 For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness.
Rom 6:21 Therefore what benefit were you then deriving from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the outcome of those things is death.
Rom 6:22 But now having been freed from sin and enslaved to God, you derive your benefit, resulting in sanctification, and the outcome, eternal life.
Rom 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Folks! It's right here - in the biblical text! Torah leads to Sanctification - with the empowerment of Grace to enable one to not break TORAH! Being without Torah (Anomia - being without the law; lawlessness) leads not to Sanctification but more lawlessness! Oh my goodness, why doesn't the Church simply read their Bible?
The Observer
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