UNDERSTANDING GRACE
It is so very important that we understand what the gospel is ! And I mean by that simple phrase, what the good news of the new covenant is! There is a tendency within Christianity and Christian understanding to isolate verses and chapters in the Bible and build a theology and a belief system around these scriptures and take them out of context.
The prime example of this is the book of Romans, where the Apostle Paul, creates a framework that contains a sequence and flow of historical and theological insights that each verse should be understood within. When some verses are taken out of this framework they lose their context and they can create an incorrect understanding of the gospel.
The framework of the gospel is mainly found in Romans chapters 5,6,7 & 8. Understanding these 4 chapters is crucial to understanding grace and the gospel.
These chapters, give a unique insight into the heart of the gospel. They explain to us that the earth contains only two groups of people. Those who are in the first Adam and those who are in the last Adam. Romans five to eight is the contrasting states of existence of living your life in and through the first Adam or through the last Adam.
Starting at Romans 5 we are introduced to the two Adams. It is a statement of the difference between those born into Adam and those re-born into Christ. The most astonishing revelation of this chapter is that you can do nothing to put yourself into either of these. You were born into Adam and you had nothing to do with that. When we were re-born into Christ you had nothing to do with that except believe.
Romans 6 carries on with this revelation and contrasts the two positions. It is here where very often confusion starts to enter our understanding if we take verses out of the context. This chapter is often quoted about “sinning” or “not sinning” or “doing righteous things” or “doing unrighteous things” . But in context of the passage it is explaining our position in life. That we are either in Adam and controlled by our sin nature or we are in Christ and controlled by our righteousness nature. This change of nature from sin to righteousness means that now “in Christ “ that it does not matter how many bad works we do, we can never be in the first Adam again. We are now in Christ and in his righteousness.
Romans 7 progresses the argument and shows the utter futility of going back to “The Law” to deal with unrighteousness. That to use the Law to deal with your old man in the first Adam is in fact Spiritual Adultery. The law is, in fact, a message of condemnation and when it is preached or practiced to try to impress God or earn his love and blessings it nullifies the grace of God and you bring yourself back under the weight and burden of condemnation.
Romans 8 is contrasting those that live “in the flesh” to those who live “in the spirit “, those who walk after the first Adam and those who walk in Christ. It is talking to us to renew our minds to the fact that we have died to the flesh and are now alive in the spirit. When we are in Christ we are now alive in the spirit and are free from the flesh and Adam.
This is the sequence and flow of the passage. If you are in Adam you are controlled by your old sin nature and in the flesh. But if you are in Christ you are now righteous, under grace and in the spirit.
