Romans 6 - A Fitting Reply

Well then, this is where the rubber hits the road. This is where you see who’s a woman and who’s just playing with dolls. This is the crux of the Christian life, where many fail. We stubbornly refuse to grow up and accept the responsibility of being governed, wholly controlled, and dedicated to doing things that lead to holiness and result in eternal life (6:22). Rather, we let our sinful desires govern. I submit this is the elephant in the room for the modern church. We want Romans 5 but ignore 6, 8, 1 Corinthians 6, and many other admonitions about living as children of God.

God always has the last laugh, the fitting reply (Proverbs 15:23). I enjoyed listening to “Let My People Think,” the Ravi Zacharias International Ministries podcast. Ravi was a great storyteller. His audience had no doubt he knew more about religion and philosophy than most academics. He was a self-proclaimed Christian guru with a warming testimony and a rapid-fire, well-rehearsed delivery. But God sees all. In hindsight, I can see that he was often the hero of his messages. Along with quick wit, there was also a heavy dose of arrogance and pride - telltale signs of skating on thin ice (1 Corinthians 5:2). Let me be clear, I don’t have any better idea of whether Ravi is in heaven than you do. But I know what God has exposed since Ravi died as a warning. Yet the church refuses to preach on it. I think Ravi is emblematic of leadership across the modern church. I hope I’m wrong about that. Ravi was a so-called defender of the faith, an apologist. He was objectively effective - millions listened to him. But in his last five years, allegations about raping women, financial improprieties, and many other lurid activities started to pop up. Following his death, RZIM investigated and verified the claims of his sexual sin and his bizarre secret life. Ravi appears to have been a sex addict. Yet he claimed to be something totally different - a dedicated and devoted husband, father, and ambassador for Christ. Not only did he constantly pay women for sex, but he also owned the massage parlors themselves. Wow, that’s a whole other level. Ravi preached about being ruthlessly honest. But he was ruthlessly dishonest. Where on earth was the oversight of RZIM? Where was the Board? I hope Ravi got right with God. I actually expect that he did. I also suspect he was convinced the Bible was true at one point. But he was sifted by Satan - we are all susceptible to that. May God protect us.

            Ravi’s sin was exposed. It’s not God hiding and covering up corruption. God says to reveal such things. I’m burdened by Ravi’s ultimate story. Ravi preached that the Bible could keep us from sin - but it didn’t keep him from flagrant, repeated evil. He practiced a much different religion than the one he preached. This is a systemic problem with modern church leadership. Like Ravi, many church leaders talk a good game of integrity. But I suspect there is no triumph over sin. And God forbid, no desire to expose it or hold people accountable for leadership failure. 1 Cor. 6:9-10 describes these men well. Again, I hope I’m wrong, but we must be faithful to God and get our organizations right. Nay, we need to get our lives and families straight. Over and over, we, as churchmen, fail to hold our leaders accountable.

With a church sex scandal that broke out here in Virginia a few years ago, one senior pastor in the area preached that we dare not criticize the alleged perpetrator. What? Where is that in the Bible? Whitewashing nonsense! On the contrary, the Bible expects us to assess these matters with all the faculties, wisdom, and spiritual discernment God gives us. You will rarely hear this preached in church, but it is right out of the Bible, “Don’t you realize that someday we believers will judge the world? And since you are going to judge the world, can’t you decide even these little things among yourselves? Don’t you realize that we will judge angels? So you should surely be able to resolve ordinary disputes in this life” (1 Corinthians 6:2-3).

In Ravi’s case, when he was accused about three years before his death of sexting a woman, he vehemently denied it and held himself out to be beyond reproach. I wonder if anyone at RZIM believed the accuser and her husband that brought forth the claims. Ravi held himself out as a man of purity as he paid for women to satisfy his every pleasure and kept a mistress at his place in Bangkok. I feel terrible for his wife and kids. I feel worse for the church. Ravi will stand before God. As will you and I. Seeking always to be poignant, Ravi Zacharias’ name is now meaningful indeed. It is synonymous with hypocrisy and a total lack of integrity.

God explains in Romans the incredible power of right standing in God’s sight. When we trust in Jesus to forgive our sins and no longer follow our sinful nature, but instead follow the Spirit. God makes us his friends and gives us forgiveness, clear consciences, and absolute freedom to live new lives guided by His moral standards. The excellent news is that as believers in Jesus, our consciences are wiped totally clear. Only Jesus can do that (Hebrews 9).

What we do with this glorious freedom defines our earthly and eternal lives. Chapters five through eight must be read together. We see the same discussion and themes throughout Scripture: righteousness, self-control, and judgment day. Chapter six is about self-control, made possible only through righteousness, and how we deal with freedom. Don’t poo-poo the power of sin. It is terribly strong. And leads to death. Make no mistake: Jesus Christ will judge every person according to their faith (John 3:16) and deeds (2 Cor. 5:9-10).

Now that you are a Christian, you have no excuse - you and I are no longer governed, controlled, and manipulated by the power of sin. You have a new life. A new nature. Your old sinful self was crucified on the cross of Jesus Christ (6:6).

Before, the force of your sinful nature was overwhelming. We are so ashamed of what we used to do, things that end in eternal doom. We are no longer slaves to sin - we can now choose our thoughts and actions. And our shame and guilt are now taken away by God. Paid for and removed by the beating and death on the cross that Jesus suffered for us.

We can now drive in this map of life guided by and following the Spirit. And yet, so many of us do not. There is a considerable negative consequence to living with a guilty conscience. We are free in Christ and forgiven by Christ. Yet there is also the terrible consequence of continuing to sin and living hypocritical lives.

The lure of our evil desires sprouts anew and proliferates if fed and fertilized. If you choose to be a slave to sin, sin will indeed own you. You may desire power and control, money, sex, pleasure, authority, and all the trappings of success. You may want great worldly recognition and influence. You may be on your way to being a big man on campus. But let us be sober here. And careful. The Bible warns us not to endanger our souls. Do not give in to those desires.

God tells us plainly: Jesus is alive. He sees everything we do. Jesus lives to God’s great glory. Death has zero power over Jesus. And we, too, should consider ourselves dead to the power of sin and alive to God through Christ Jesus.

You may disagree with this, but it is the truth from God. Sin is no longer your master. You no longer live under the requirements of the law. You and I are truly free! We must live under the freedom of God’s grace (6:14).

Let’s face it. We are a slave to whatever we obey. You won’t make it another hour without having to choose to let a sinful, arrogant, prideful, rude, self-righteous, impatient, or lustful desire control the way you live. That’s the reality of life. Do not give in to those evil desires. You have the power of Almighty God to crush them and destroy sinful desires that come from within us. Sin, your strength is dead over the power of Jesus Christ. Let us fear God and trust the grace of Jesus.

Now we have new life. Let us act like it. Let us use our arms, legs, eyes, ears, head, fingers, and lungs to do what is suitable for the glory of God (6:13).

God’s life for the Christian is good. Stop faking it. Let’s hold our leaders accountable. Life is too short to put up with the wolves who use the sheep rather than serve the sheep. And let each of us as Christians be genuine. Be yourself in Christ’s freedom. Obedient to the Spirit and aligned with right living as defined in the New Testament. It’s the enjoyable life, the happy life, the full life, but not the sinful life. We were saved by Jesus - we live as men and women held by Him:  thankful, obedient to the Holy Spirit, humble, honest, holy, kind, patient, courageous, pure, helpful, mindful of others, wholly controlled by the One True God.

Lord Jesus, with you, we can make good choices today. Amen.