 Good morning, good morning, good morning. OK, welcome to class, everyone. Good morning, good to see all of you. Today, there was some kind of energy in life in class. Good to see that. How are all of you doing? Give me some feedback about Romans, because I hardly get any questions from you all. And so I'm just wondering, because you're a very engaging class. And now you've currently become very quiet. So it's raising a lot of questions in my mind, whether I'm going fast, able to understand, are you all enjoying the class, finding it interesting? Can we get some feedback, please? No feedback? Yeah, me, this is Charles. What I say is this book is a technical book which is partly scholarly, but also spiritual. So me, I am on the part of listening and taking in things. So I enjoy the class. Thank you, Charles. Thank you, Kung. Anything that you would like me to incorporate while explaining Romans? Any feedback? Please feel free to share your feedback. It just helps me and help you as well. Any feedback you'll have? OK, so I'll wait for your feedback, if there's any. OK, we'll continue. We were looking at Romans chapter 6. We came up to verse 4. OK, Rupa says, very intense, trying to process and assimilate. Sasha is saying that's the moment we accept Christ. We are one with Christ. We identify with his death, with his burial, with his resurrection, with his ascension, and with him seated in the heavenly places. So that is our identification. So basically what he's talking about in chapter 5 and what he's talking about in chapter 6 is talking about the truth of our identification. So who we were in Adam, what we inherited. We all know what we inherited in Adam. And in Christ, what is our identification, where we stand. And it's important for us to know the truth of our identification so that we know what we have received. And it's important for us to know what we have received, because then we can stand from a place of authority. And we can influence God's kingdom here on Earth. Thank you, Kung. So we'll move on. So here we were looking at that we identify with Christ and all the things that I said. And he says that just like Christ was raised up from the dead, so also we raised up in Christ. And when we raised up in Christ, what happens? We walk in newness of life. So we see that crucifixion, we ended last week by saying that crucifixion is the end. When we are crucified with Christ, it means the end of the old man. And it's the breaking of the power of sin. And he said, when we are barric with Christ, what it means the end of the old life. And the old life has no more claims upon us. And when we are resurrected with Christ, it means that we have a brand new life. We are living the eternal life here and now. And he goes on to talk. He doesn't mention here about Christ's ascension. And him sees the right hand of the Father, but we also looked at it from 1 Corinthians. And we said that in Christ's ascension, how do we identify? We are no longer under the influence of the system of evil and rebellion. And with Christ seated at the right hand of the Father, we are also seated with Jesus. What is our place of identification? We operate from a place of authority and dominion on this earth. And so here he says that, when Christ raised us up from the dead, so we walk in newness of life. And he said the word life here is the Greek word that is zoe, eternal life. So when does eternal life start? When does eternal life start? New birth. New birth, okay, thank you. Yes, Siddharth? When we believe in Jesus, okay, thank you. Okay, sometimes we have this whole idea that eternal life is when we get to heaven, right? When we get to heaven, we experience eternal life. But eternal life is something that is a realized eschatology. The words theologians use here for eternal life, it's realized eschatology. Eschatology means a hope that will happen somewhere in the future. Eschatology is in the future, it is going to happen somewhere in the future. Eschatology, okay, future. And we have this hope that we will have eternal life sometime in the future. But it's a realized eschatology means that we experience this eternal life here and now in the present, even as we experience a fullness of it in the future. Okay, so it's a realized eschatology that means eternal life does not just start in heaven, it starts when we are, when we reach heaven, but it starts when we are born again. Because when we are in Christ, we are living and walking in the eternal life right now. We experience the life of God, the fullness of life, the God kind of life right now in us. And yes, we know that some part of it is, we're going to experience it in the future. When our bodies, that mortal bodies are going to be raised imperishable, immortal. You know, but in our spirit man, right now we enjoy the eternal life. It's already there, but we know it will get better in the future where we will receive glorified bodies and we will be with God in heaven. So the eternal life is already started inside us now. We can walk in the newness of life because we are resurrected in Christ Jesus. Yes, we become saints. Thank you Charles, and we cross over from being sinners to saints, okay? Then we look at verses nine and 10, okay? Can somebody read verses nine and 10, please? Romans six, nine and 10. Mama, can I read? Yes, thank you. Romans chapter six, verse nine and 10. We know that Christ being raised from the dead will never die again. Death no longer has dominion over him. For the death, he died, he died to sin. Once for all, but the life he lives, he lives to God. Thank you, Elisha. You sounded like Elisha the prophet. Such a deep, nice voice you have. Thank you. So here, in nine and 10, verses nine and 10, Paul is saying that what Christ died for, he died for once for all. So there's no more need for anyone to pay the penalty for sin, to die for sin. Christ finished the work. It was a finished work, a completed work. And we see that death no longer has dominion over him. And it will always remain under him. So what is he trying to tell us? He's saying that once Christ died for sin, he died for it once for all. And the life that he lives, he lives to God. And so he's telling us what? He's telling us the same way, just like you have, you know, dead in Christ, you are dead to sin. You know, you cannot, their sin is, you know, death. It's complete. It has no more power. It has no more authority over your life, you know? It's completed. It's gone as that past, you know? It has no more dominion, no more power, no more claim, no more hold over your life. It cannot operate in your life because it is dead, same like Christ, you know? He died for sin once for all. It's a completed work. So you need to consider, we need to consider sin as in our body as a done thing is dead. It's completed. It has no dominion over us. And he's also telling us an important truth that now, you know, we enjoy the eternal life, the life of God, the zoe life of God. And he says, you know, we receive this life. And he says that the life that Christ lives now, he lives unto God. Similarly, he's telling us the life that you have received as a result of, you know, you identify with Christ crucifixion and his burial and his resurrection, you also need to live your life for God. So wonderfully, he just, and so beautifully, he just puts it, okay? So that is what we need to be conscious about, you know, that we are dead to sin. There's no dominion, no power and hold, no hold over us. The life we're living now, we live as unto God. That means we are, our lives are totally consecrated to God, submitted to God in total obedience to Christ and to God, okay? And then he goes on to talk about the five action points and how to live free from sin versus 11 to verse 14. So can somebody please read verses 11 to verses 14, please. Like I say also, reckon yourself to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body that you should obey it and its lust. And do not present your members as instruments of unregisteredness to sin, but present yourself to God as being alive from the dead and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. For sin shall not have dominion over you for you're not under love but under grace. Thank you, Asha. So here at verse 10, just looking back at verse 10, he's pointing us to Jesus. And he says, look at Jesus, he died to sin once for all and the life he lives, now he's alive and he lives to God. And then he begins verse 11, it says likewise, which is a connection between verse 10 and verse 11. He's saying in the same manner, okay? Similarly, just like Christ did, so also, okay? The likewise in the same manner and he's telling us what we need to do. He's saying Jesus died once for all and he's alive to God now, he's fully consecrated, dedicated to the Father. And hence we too need to live the same way, okay? We need to also liberalize fully consecrated, committed, submitted in total and utter obedience and holiness and righteousness towards the Father. And then he presents five action points that we must take to live free from sin. Or he says, the truth of identification that we have learned of being in Adam, now being in Christ, the truth of identification of us being in Christ is to be lived out like this. And how should it be lived out? He gives us five action points in verse 11, he says, reckon yourselves. Verse 12, he says, do not let sin reign. In verse 13, he says, do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness. And again, he says, present yourselves to God in verse 13. And also says in the same words, present your members as instruments of righteousness. So the first thing let's look at this, reckon yourself. He says, in verse 11, likewise you also, just like Christ is dead to sin once for all, it's completed and it's alive to God now. Likewise, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin. Reckon yourself means consider yourself. Now the Greek word here is a word used for accounting. It's an accounting word. Let me just give you an example. Say a man has 10 notes and each of these 10 notes is a denomination of 10 rupees. Okay, so 10 notes denomination of 10 worth 10 rupees. However the person counts it, it will amount to 100. Okay, rupees 100. However he counts it. So it cannot be disputed. It cannot be in any way questioned because all of these 10 notes valuing 10 rupees, when you put it together, when you account for it, it will amount to rupees 100. It cannot be disputed and it cannot in any way be questioned. And so in the same way he says, when you reckon yourself means count it as a fact. Okay, count it as a fact or consider yourself. Count it as a fact. Consider yourself that you're dead to sin and alive to God like Christ who died once for all, to sin but is alive and the life he lives, he lives to God, okay? And he's saying, what he means here is, once for all, embrace the truth, accept it, reckon it, consider it, take it as a fact that you're dead to sin and alive to God, which means that we have nothing to do with sin, I have nothing to do with sin. So the first thing we need to do is reckon to sin that I'm done with sin, I'm dead to sin and I'm alive with God. And I think as believers, we need to come to this place where we understand this identification of ours in Christ that we are done with sin, dead to sin, that we reckon ourselves dead to sin, okay? And the problem is that many believers, do not consider themselves dead to sin. They ask, how can we be dead to sin on? I don't think so, but this is the truth which we need to embrace and we need to live in and walk in it and see that accomplished in our lives. The second thing is do not let sin rain, okay? Do not let sin rain in your mortal bodies was 12 that you should obey it in its lust. So here it says, not let sin rain in your bodies, why? Because we are dead to sin and alive to God. Therefore, we can't let sin rain in our mortal bodies. We refuse to give sin any place in our body. Why? Because we are dead to sin, we're alive to God, sin has no place in our lives. And hence as believers, we become intolerant to sin. The third thing he says is do not present your members as instruments of righteousness. Now the word instrument here in Greek is weapon. So it says, you know, Paul is saying, don't let your bodies be a weapon of sin or unrighteousness. And even as we acknowledge this fact, we reckon this through this fact, we count it as a fact, but we need to make a choice. Okay, the choice is that we are not going to submit our bodies as a weapon for sin and for unrighteousness. And then he says, present yourselves to God as instruments of, not as instruments of unrighteousness, but as instruments of righteousness. So he says, since it's the act of each one's will, that each one by choice is going to make a choice that we are not going to give up our bodies as instruments of, or as weapons for sin and unrighteousness. But we are going to say, God, here is my body, I present myself 100% to you, you know, and my body is going to be not a weapon for sin and unrighteousness, but it's going to be a weapon of righteousness, which means that God, you know, here's my body, I'm totally consecrating myself. I'm totally giving up myself to advance the kingdom of God, to advance in righteousness and in holiness. And the fifth thing he says, present your members as instruments of righteousness. That means we are willingly submitting, consciously submitting day in and day out, you know, submitting ourselves to obedience to the Lordship of Christ Jesus, submitting ourselves in every area to obeying God, doing His will, yielding every member of our body to God so that every member of our body serves as instruments or weapons of righteousness. Okay. And verse 14 he says, for sin shall not have dominion over you because you are not under law, but under grace. Okay, that means, and he's saying that sin has no dominion over you, means that, you know, sin has no right, no dominion over the believers. And then he says, we are not under the law, but under grace. So now he's drawing a contrast between law and he's drawing a contrast between law and grace. Now he says the law, the law told us what are the right things to do. Okay, it only tells us what's the right things to do, but the law does not empower us, does not help us to do how to do the right things. And that's why people failed to keep the law because the law only told them what was right and wrong. The law told them that, you know, they are sinners. The law told them that, you know, that they have missed the mark, they have gone away from God. And hence they are, you know, under the law of God, so they have to make sacrifices or tone for their sins, but the law never empowered them. But on the other hand, he's saying grace. Okay, grace tells us what is the right thing to do, but also the grace of God empowers us to do the right things. And that's why, you know, we read in the Old Testament, God says, you know, I will remove their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh. I will write my laws upon their heart and mine, I will put my spirit in them. My spirit will help them to keep all of my ways. So God knew that people were not in their own strength. The law was not sufficient enough to empower them to keep his laws, to obey him, to keep his ways. And so he says, I will put my spirit and my spirit will enable you to keep my ways. Okay, so we also know that the standard under the law and the standard of the grace is much higher than what was in the law. The standard under the grace is much higher than what is in the law. Of course, grace empowers us, equips us, helps us to stand righteous before God, gives us a right standing before God, even though all our righteousness is a spilty rags, but grace has a higher standing. Okay, so there's some of the question when people ask, can we continue to sin because the grace of God abounds and Paul says, certainly no. And he's explaining and he's saying here that the standards under God's grace is much higher than the standards under God's law. So what do we mean by this? The law says that you shall not murder. But what does grace say? You know, the New Testament, Jesus says, even if you hate your somebody, you've already murdered them. You don't have to do the physical act of murder, but just hating your brother or hating someone who've already murdered them is equal to murder, okay? So grace has a higher standard compared to the law. Another example, Jesus says, you know, the law says do not commit adultery, but what does that grace say? But Jesus says, I tell you that if you even look lustfully at a woman, you've already committed adultery in your heart. You don't have to do the act of adultery, but just looking lustfully is, you know, you've already committed adultery in your heart and you still stand condemned. You still stand as a sinner before God. So, you know, yes, we can boast about the grace that we have, you know, grace does this and that and, you know, it saved us and gives us a right standing and because of grace, we are made righteous, we are justified, all that is good, but, you know, there's another side to grace. This is the other side of the coin. Grace is also having a higher standard of living. So, you know, Paul is reminding us of that. He says, you know, don't think because of grace, you know, your life is easy. It's a higher standard, it's a higher calling, you know, and we need to, if you're, you know, he, living under grace, we also, if you've experienced the grace of God, if you've come into Christ, if you've experienced the truth of identification as a result of being in Christ, you know, we also need to live with the highest standing of that grace requires us to live. And now he goes on to explain or expand more about law and grace in chapter seven, okay? We'll move on versus 15 to 18 before we move on, does anyone has any questions? So, Elisha says, can we say that for grace to work perfectly in the life of a believer, these five things must be done? Well, not just these five things, but, you know, everything else that is, yes, as mentioned in scripture, it's basically living a life totally consecrated, committed to God, you know, in every area of a life living in total obedience to God. Of course, these five things are the action points that we do, yes, recognize ourselves that to sin, you know, don't let sin reign in our mortal bodies, we need to present our bodies as a living sacrifice, present our bodies as instruments of righteousness. These five things are also, you know, what else scripture teaches us to. It's not only these five things, but all inclusive of everything in these five points, but also the other things that scripture tells us. Good question Elisha, did I answer your question? No, yes, no, thank you very much. Thank you. Anyone else has any questions? No questions? Okay, Charles says, is it true we are under grace, but aren't there people use the grace wrongly? Yes, it's true, very true that people use grace wrongly. And I mentioned about this in the last class, you know, when we were, when we're looking at the first rhetorical question that Paul is asking in chapter six, we said in chapter six is basically having, you know, two questions, and you know, to answer those two main questions he has two follow-up questions. And the first main question is, shall we continue that's in sin that grace may abound? So he's already thinking about what, you know, the possibility of this question in the mind of his readers or people asking. Now we have the grace of God, so it's okay for us to continue in sin. And what does he say? He says, no way, we can't do that, you know, not at all. He says, we can't continue in sin. Why? Because he says, because the obvious reason is we're already dead to sin. Okay? And he says, certainly not. He says, because we're dead to sin. And as people use the grace wrongly, and that is why it's important for us to teach them, you know, and that's why Paul says, knowing this, it's important for us to know that, you know, this truth, and that's why I mentioned this truth, even though it's not in your notes about the law and grace, about the highest standard of grace compared to the law, which is not in your notes, but I'm mentioning it because people, you know, take grace for granted. Say the grace of God is there, you know, he does not call us as sinners. Why are you pointing out to my sin? You know, God is a forgiving, compassionate, gracious, merciful God. So we can do what we want to do. And there are some churches that have come up called the greater grace. We have greater grace. We can do whatever we want. And we have greater grace of God, you know, and the grace of God is sufficient to forgive us so we can live how and what we want. And that's not biblical teaching. That is not the truth of God's word. And Paul knows that, you know, people will think like that and that's why he's fighting and that's why he's mentioning it to us. That when Christ died for sin once for all and he lives for God, you know, when we identify with him, we also have to identify with him in this area. And then he brings so beautifully about the law and grace. So it's important for each one of us to teach people in our church, you know, take them through the series of Romans because they will know the truths, the doctrines of sin, salvation, righteousness, justification, the grace of God. And they will see it in the light of what scripture tells us and will live according to it. Yes. What is the second rhetorical question? We're coming to that in a bit. Okay. So can somebody, any questions? We're looking at it in verse 15, Charles. The second rhetorical question is in verse 15, which we're just going to look at it now. Okay. So can somebody please read verses 15 to verse 18, please? Quickly. From verse 15 to verse 18, Pastor. Verse 18, Charles, please. Thank you. All right. What then are we to sin because we are not under law, but under grace? By no means. Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness. But thanks be to God that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of the teaching to which you were committed. Amen. Thank you, Charles. So here we see verse 15. He's asking the second, Charles, can you please mute your mic? Thank you, Charles. So here we see in the, he asks the second main question in verse 15, shall we sin because we're not under law, but under grace? And then he has two other questions to answer, help answer that. Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves as slaves to obey you are that one slaves who you obey, whether of sin leading to death or of obedience leading to righteousness was 16 and was 21, what food did you have then in the things of which you are now ashamed? So in verse 15, you know, Paul is continuing in style of asking question, which is a rhetorical question which he answers or you know, which he himself answers or the answer is implicit, it's right there. So the question he asks is what then shall we sin because we're not under law but under grace and the answer is certainly not. Why? Because you know, he's already told us that we need to present ourselves to God. So when you're presenting yourselves, you're submitting yourselves, you're becoming a slave. And then he's very beautifully talking about under the law, we were a slave to sin, but under grace, we are slaves of righteousness. Under the law, we were a slave to sin, but because the law made it very evident that we couldn't keep the law and we had no power to overcome sin. And so we ended up as slaves of sin. But under grace, he says we are slaves of God and slaves of righteousness. Why are we slaves? Because we are willingly presenting ourselves to God. We're willingly accepting his Lordship and we're coming under his authority. We are making a choice to be slaves under him because we're willingly presenting ourselves to God. And then verse 16 he says, don't do you not know that to whom you present yourselves, slaves to obey you are, you know, that one slave whom you obey, whether it was sin leading to death or obedience leading to righteousness. So the Greek word for slave here is doulos, meaning born servant. And it's the same word that Paul uses to refer himself in Romans chapter one verse one. And I explained about it, where he says he was a born servant of Christ, which means he's a born servant of Christ, means he will voluntarily or willingly chose to be a slave completely surrendered to his master for life to do what his master wants him to do, okay? And so what we see in this verse is, you know, we need to understand this whole slave or born servant with that idea that the slaves of God or slaves of righteousness means we are willingly, you know, voluntarily chosen ourselves to be completely surrendered to God, completely surrendered our life and want him to be the master and want him to do whatever he wants in our life. So Paul here beautifully, you know, contrasts law and grace. He says, under law we were slaves to sin, uncleanliness and lawlessness, but under grace we are a slave of God and righteousness. In both these cases, you know, we're a slave but the difference is the master, okay? Under law we were slaves to sin, but you know, under grace we are slaves of God, okay? In West Turkey he says that, he's already said that, you know, present yourselves to God. Since having presented ourselves to God, we now become slaves of God and slaves of righteousness. We are born servants of God and righteousness. We have no option but to live righteous lives because we have already made that choice willingly, voluntarily we have chosen to present ourselves to God. And while he says this, you know, he's giving thanks to God in verse 17, he says, but God be thanked that though you were slave of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered, okay? And here he, in verse 18, he talks about having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness. So he's bringing a contrast again, he's brought a contrast between Adam, first Adam, second Adam, the first Adam, last Adam, first man, second man, the man who was natural, the man who was spiritual, the man who was from earth, the man who was from heaven. Then he brings a distinction between law and grace and now he brings a contrast between slaves of sin and slaves of righteousness. He says that, you know, when we were in Adam, we were slaves of sin, but now we've been set free from sin and now we become slaves of righteousness, okay? How are we no longer slaves of sin and how are we slaves of righteousness? What made that difference? He says it's because we have obeyed from the heart the form of teaching that was delivered to you. So how do we transition from being slaves of sin to being slaves of righteousness? He says, because you have taken that step to obey from your heart the form of doctrine or the teaching that was imparted to you. Now this is, you know, the teaching that we are going through is the teaching that the same teaching that took these people out of being slaves of sin to being set free and to becoming slaves of righteousness. And he says, because you obeyed from your heart, that means you wholeheartedly obeyed, you wholeheartedly you gave yourself to these doctrines, to these teachings, and that's why you moved on from being slaves of sin to being slaves of righteousness. Now the word form of doctrine or form of teaching the Greek word for form is very interesting. It's a mold or a cast. So in factories, when they want to manufacture something they have molds or casts and they pour the liquid whether it's copper, plastic, gold, silver and falls into the mold it transforms itself from just being a liquid to becoming into a beautiful shape of what the person desires. So also he's saying that the teaching on the doctrine that has been brought to you is like a mold. So the teaching on the doctrine is a mold and when you have an obedient heart it is like that liquid that has been poured into this mold which is the teaching on the doctrine and when it solidifies it comes out as something different. So it's explaining how we move from being slaves of sin to being slaves of righteousness. And he says, because you obeyed from the heart the form of doctrine and he says this form the Greek word beautifully says mold or cast. So the teaching on the doctrine is a mold or cast and then we have obedient heart. It's like that liquid that has been poured out into this mold and when it solidifies it takes the it has a total transformation. That's how we are totally transformed from being slaves of sin to being slaves of righteousness. And he says that they are slaves of sin but they have been set free from sin wide because they wholeheartedly accepted the teaching and that is why it's so important for us to teach all of this to people in our Bible study or in our groups, life groups or in our churches because when people, when this truth is communicated to them just imagine what will happen. They will receive the truth, they will receive the truth wholeheartedly what will happen. The word of God will produce the same results that it produced in Paul's time, it produced in our lives it will also produce in the lives of people that we are preaching to and teaching. And then Paul sums up what he's saying what he's been saying all this time and but he recognizes also as even as he sums up the whole thing, he also recognizes a problem that believers can still have which he deals with in verses 19 to 23. So can somebody please read verses 19 to 23 please? Please? Romans 6, 19 to 23. I speak in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh but just as you presented your members as slaves of uncleanness and of lawlessness linked more lawlessness. So now present your members as slaves of righteousness for holiness. For when you were slaves of sin you are free in regard to righteousness. Okay, let's continue reading verses 21 to 23. Sorry, it's working my notes over here. Okay, no worries. Thank you, Christopher. Can somebody else read verses 21 to 23 please? Verse 21, what food did you have then in the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. Verse 22, but now having been set free from sin and having become slaves of God you have your fruit of holiness and the end everlasting life. Verse 23, for the wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Okay, so he starts verse 19, he mentions I speak in human terms. That means policy. I'm using a language that can easily be understood by the people that he's writing to and he's referring here to the using of the word slave because it was a very famous and a term that everyone was well aware of because in Rome they had slaves, a lot of slaves, they had a slave market. So he's saying I'm using a language that people can understand and he's referring to the word slave. And he's saying that as we apply the truth of identification to overcome sin which he has explained at length and discussed in length in chapters five and six he says, now we are going to walk in holiness. What Paul is getting to is he's saying how we can live in holiness, walk in holiness but he's also saying there is one problem and that is the weakness of our flesh. Now the word flesh has different meanings in New Testament, the word flesh can mean the outer body, the outer man. It can also mean sinful evil desires of the outer man. The flesh here means the natural evil desires of the body. We also see that Paul writes about this in Galatians chapter five where he talks about the works of the flesh and he lists out in chapter five the evil desires of the body but here he says the weakness of the flesh and he's going to elaborate more on this in chapter seven but how do we get rid about the weakness of the flesh where the sin has a strong grip over us for a long time? He says it's by presenting the members of our body as instruments or weapons of righteousness and he says all this will happen by the how can we present our members? He says all this happens by the act of our will and he repeats the idea of willingly presenting or willingly yielding ourselves as slaves. Sorry, in verse 16 he says he talks about how we need to present ourselves as slaves to obedience and now in verse 19 he's presenting or he's saying that we need to present our members as slaves of righteousness for holiness. So he says there's a weakness of the flesh that we have in our body where sin has a strong grip over us but he says we can overcome it by the act of our will and so he's continually presenting to us the idea of willfully making a choice. We have to make a willful choice to present ourselves or yield ourselves as slaves to God, as slaves to righteousness and that's what we see in verse 16 and verse 19. So he says before we were born again we continually presented our members as slaves of uncleanliness to uncleanliness, impurity, lawlessness. Lawlessness means wickedness, violation of the law not keeping the law, transgression, missing the mark, crossing the line, transgression and that's just leading to more lawlessness but he's saying now since we are in Christ and we know our identification, the truth of our identification he says now present your members as slaves of righteousness for holiness, okay? So even as we apply this truth of identification of overcoming sin that he has explained in chapter five and six, we are going to walk in holiness and he says that is where we're getting to but there's a problem, the weakness of the flesh. And then Paul reminds them that when we were in sin we, the end of what was the end of sin? What is the consequence of sin? What's the wages of sin? Death, he was 21, he says the wages of sin is always death, was 23. However, if we yield ourselves give ourselves as instruments or weapons of righteousness unto God when we yield ourselves as slaves to God and slaves of righteousness he says in verse 19 and 22 that we will have the fruit of holiness. How beautifully he just puts it, okay? So we have the fruit of holiness. This fruit of holiness will lead to eternal life, okay? Yes, God's grace has made us free from sin and in response to God's grace we willingly make ourselves slaves to God and slaves of righteousness. And what is the result of this? The result is holy living before God. Fruits of holiness which leads to eternal life, okay? And in chapter seven, which we will be looking at next Wednesday, the whole he discusses in length about the weakness of the flesh where he basically talks there about a struggle of a man who has the law of God and he wants to obey it but he does not have the power to do it because of the weakness of the flesh. And then he explains why the flesh is weakened and then he goes on in chapter eight where he says a born again, what is the answer for this? Okay, the answer for this is the work of the Holy Spirit. Yes, we are weak enough flesh, you know we want to obey God, but we don't have the power to do it because of the weakness of the flesh. And he says, what is the answer? He gives us, he presents the answer in chapter eight. He says for all those who are born again who are believers in Christ, the answer is the work of the Holy Spirit. Yes, we know there's a weakness in the flesh but there is a law and then he brings about a new law. He says the law of the spirit of life. So beautifully he just brings it. He says in verse chapter eight, he says the law of the spirit of life. There's a spirit of life, this the Holy Spirit, which helps us to conquer our flesh, to crucify our flesh. And so, you know, when we study chapter eight we'll see how a believer can live a victorious life. Okay, but here he ends by very beautifully saying that, you know, the wages of sin is death. But if we heal ourselves, our bodies as slaves to God and as righteousness, we have the fruit of holiness and eternal life. Somebody had their hand up, say, say you had your hand up. Yeah, Pastor, I just thought, but maybe I should just, I thought maybe I'll be going too forward. I was just going to ask, in what context did Paul write the latter part? You know, he answers the question, oh, Richard Sinner, who would save a man like me? Which was like the latter part of chapter seven. In what context was he writing it? I've heard many people say it in a sense whereby, oh, Paul was writing it as a result of what he was feeling. But I think, based on what we're reading, I think he's just putting up, how do I put it now? He's just trying to put up a question, to bring an answer and to give us understanding. But some people feel like Paul was struggling. And then he realized that, oh, it's the Holy Spirit that helps, and that's why we see in chapter eight he talks more about the Holy Spirit. So I just want to get clarity. In what context was he writing chapter seven? Especially the latter part, where he says that, oh, there are things I would like to do, but yet I can't do them. You know, and all that and all that. What context was he writing? Was it as a result of his own experience, or based off of just trying to bring our understanding to the fact that the flesh is weak and it's only the Holy Spirit that can help us live a life pleasing unto God and in holiness? Yes, very good thought, Sey. Thank you for the question. I think here he's just, Paul, you know, the questions he's asking is he's already contemplating or thinking what questions can arise in the mind of people or people who have already asked him these questions, or they would have these doubts. So he is, you know, he's presenting the questions and then he is discussing in length about that and trying to explain. And this is, you know, he says that, you know, we are dead to sin, you know, and sin has no power, but why do we still continue sinning because of the weakness of the flesh? And then he goes on to give the answer. So I think that it's not just because he is struggling. We know that all of what he's writing is inspired by the Holy Spirit or the Holy Spirit is leading him to write and it's so much applicable for us in our day and time as well as it was applicable for the church he was writing to and also something that, you know, he had a revelation and understanding about it himself and I'm sure he was living it himself and hence he was writing it from his own experience because even though he was inspired by the Holy Spirit it was him using his own mind, his religion, his logical understanding to write, to reason, to explain so beautifully to it, explain so logically. So if you look at the whole thing it's such a logical, beautiful reasoning and understanding how he just brings in everything, how he contrasts, you know, first Adam, last Adam, how he contrasts sin, grace, the law and the grace with slaves of sin, slaves of righteousness and he's bringing it all so that, you know, we can have a better understanding of the doctrines and remember he's teaching us doctrines, he's bringing out the truths, he's teaching us the truths about these doctrines and so it is, you know, it's something that he has clarity on so he's giving us more clarity and more understanding that will help us because this is something that, you know, people in Paul's time were facing and also we are facing today. I hope I answered your question or the query, say. Did it help? Yes, that was a good answer. Thank you, thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you. What is the meaning of the word members as used? The members of our body, Paul is basically talking about various parts of our bodies, you know, he talks about it in Corinthians also, just like, you know, the members of our body where he talks about the eye, the hand, the eye can't say, you know, I can exist by myself, I can do things by myself. He's talking about in the context of the members of the body of church of Christ, of God, where we all need each other, you know, all of us need each other, all of us are gifted in various things, we are called to different offices and all of us need each other, just like different parts of our body, which he calls as members, you know. So members of different parts of our body. So every member of our body, every part of our body should be totally submission, every area of our life should be totally submitted to God. Yes, see, Kumar. Thank you, Pascal. I just want, I need a clarification on what, what now brothers say, asked. So is it means that Paul was, lived a sinless life in that means, or he was now, he was just, you know, if that is something he was, if he came to a conclusion that this is something, because, you know, he himself is saying that, I found these things working in me, that the, you know, the law of the sin and death, and, you know, so he was actually waging a war. I know it means, is it not that he's really experiencing that thing with insight and second thing? If you say- Let's answer the first thing so that I can get to second question. It's a good question. You know, I think it's a, it's a very implicit answer. You know, we, I'm sure Paul never thought he was a sinless person. Nobody is sinless, we're all born in sin, okay? That's what he writes. He says, from Adam's raise, we've all inherited sin. That's why we have an inclination to sin. We have a foreign nature. And he also writes somewhere, you know, not that I've been made perfect, but I take on what Christ has taken hold of me. He says that, I think I think in 1st Corinthians, 2nd Corinthians, he says, I'm not, you know, not being made perfect, but I continue to press on, I take hold of what Christ Jesus has taken hold of me, knowing that I'm not perfect. And so I'm sure that he, he's not looking at him as a sinless person. He can't be sinless. None of us are sinless. And so he's writing from that point. I hope I answered the first question and then we can go to second question. No, I just want to add one more thing, like whether in the book of John it says that no one can say that they are sinless, like, no. If somebody says that he's not having sin in him, he's a liar. So that's all I just want to add, that's all. Thank you, Pastor. Thank you. Good question and thank you for sharing that. Did I answer your first part of your question, Sri Kumar? Yes, yes, I understood. I just wanted to know because, you know, that's if, whether it is, we are coming to a conclusion that whether Paul is sinless or not so fast. No, no, no, no, no, that is not what he's saying. He's, yeah, he's just writing so that we can understand and explaining doctrines to us, teachings to us. Thank you, Pastor, thanks a lot. Thank you, Sri Kumar. Elisha, I hope you answered your question about the members of the body. What does members mean? Yes, ma'am. Yes, ma'am, you did. Thank you very much. Thank you, Elisha. Yes, Sey? Just to clarification, I might be wrong the way maybe interpreting it, but when we say Paul was not sinless, I hope we are saying it in the context that he was once a sinner, but now turned to Christ. Because what we understand about salvation is that Jesus takes away all our sins and makes us justified and righteous. So, I just want to believe that we are answering the question that when we say we are not sinless, we're not trying to say, oh, we've never seen before, but that from the standpoint of where we are in Christ Jesus, there's no more sin in our lives. Because it would be better up to understand it that way, because if we feel that even though we've given our lives to Christ Jesus, we still have sin in us, then of what good is Christ's presence resurrection in our life. So, I just wanted to point that out, basically. Yes, and we cannot say that we will never sin because the Bible says in Hebrew, he knows he understands our weakness, and so he's a great interceding high priest who's interceding on behalf of us to the Father. Okay, so Jesus is saying that the right hand of the Father interceding on behalf of us because he knows our weaknesses, he understands our frailties. So it's not that we're not going to sin or we're never going to sin, but the whole fact that we can't say that, we can't say that, hey man, I get angry because this is how I am. I've always been angry, I can't control my anger, but we can't say that. We have to recognize that when we get angry, when we sin, then anger has no justification now because we are dead to sin, and so anger or how we retaliate when we get angry should not have any more power or hold over us. We need to overcome that. So the truth is going to help us not to indulge in sinful activities or in sin, and just give an excuse that this is how I am, and sin has control over me and I can't give this up, and I can't stop telling lies, or I can't stop using bad words, or I can't stop looking lustfully at the opposite sex, or I can't stop eating beyond what I should be eating or sleeping so much more. We can't just give excuses because, hey, we are dead to sin, that's our truth, and we need to walk in the light of that, and then we need to overpower sin because we have the weakness of the flesh. Yes, good, thank you, Seyi. Good questions, good thoughts. Thank you for sharing. Anyone else? Thank you, we've already moved nine minutes more. Thank you for being patient. Those of you who want to leave, you can leave. Anyone else has any more questions? No questions? Okay, thank you for joining class. Have a blessed weekend and a refreshing weekend, and see you all next Wednesday. Thank you. Thank you, Pastor. Thank you, Seyi. Thank you.