Romans 6:5-6

Romans 6:5-The Believer’s Identification with Christ in His Physical Death is the Basis for His Future Resurrection

In Romans 6:5, Paul teaches that the believer’s identification with Christ in His physical death is the basis for his future resurrection. Romans 6:1-5, “What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase? May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it? Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? 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. 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.” “For ” is the “inferential” use of the post-positive conjunction gar ( gavr ), which introduces a first class conditional statement that draws an inference drawn Paul’s statements in Romans 6:2-4. In Romans 6:2b, Paul teaches that the believer is dead to the sin nature. Romans 6:2b, “We, who are indeed of such character and of a particular class of individuals, have died with reference to the sin nature, how shall we still live under its dominion? ” In Romans 6:3, the apostle teaches that the believer has been identified with Jesus Christ and specifically that the believer is identified with Christ in His spiritual death, which solved the problem of real spiritual death. Romans 6:3, “Or, are some of you in a state of ignorance concerning the fact that all of us who have been identified with Christ, who is Jesus, have been identified with His spiritual death?” Then, in Romans 6:4a, he teaches that the believer is identified with Jesus Christ in His physical death and burial. Lastly, in Romans 6:4b, Paul teaches that Christ’s resurrection enables the believer to walk in newness of life. Romans 6:4, “Therefore, we have been buried with Him through baptism with respect to His physical death in order that just as Christ was raised from the dead ones through the glory of the Father, in the same way, we, ourselves will also walk in the realm of an extraordinary life.” As we have noted in our previous studies, Adam died spiritually first and then physically. This pattern holds true as we noted in Romans 5:12-21 for his posterity, the human race.

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Jesus Christ’s obedience to the Father’s will in dying a spiritual death negated Adam’s spiritual death and its effects, namely, physical death and eternal condemnation. Therefore, the sinner who trusts in Jesus Christ is delivered from all three. Romans 5:12-21 taught us that the sin nature came into the world through Adam’s transgression and spiritual death through the sin nature. God imputed Adam’s transgression to every member of his posterity, i.e. the human race. Therefore, every member of the human is born into this world, physically alive yet spiritually dead and in need of justification. The sin nature resides in the physical body (Romans 6:6). Romans 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.” Personal sin is the result of obeying the desires of the sin nature. Real spiritual death is the result of possessing a sin nature and committing personal sin perpetuates this status. Therefore, the human race had three major problems that are interconnected, the sin nature, spiritual death and personal sins. Jesus Christ’s spiritual and physical deaths dealt with all three. Spiritual death is the product of the sin nature and personal sin perpetuates this status of spiritual death. The human race is under the status of real spiritual death because of the sin nature, which was passed down from Adam. Spiritual death is the consequence of not only possessing a sin nature but also obeying its desires and committing personal sin. Instead, of the human race suffering the consequences of possessing a sin nature and obeying its desires and committing personal sin, Jesus Christ died spiritually in their place as their Substitute. Thus, His spiritual death negates one of the effects of Adam’s sin, which is spiritual death that is the result of possessing a sin nature and committing sin. Therefore, our Lord had to die spiritually to solve the problem of spiritual death in the human race. His spiritual death dealt with the consequences of the human race possessing a sin nature and obeying its desires, namely, spiritual death. Adam acquired a sin nature when he disobeyed the Lord’s command to not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. This sin nature was passed down to his posterity, i.e. the human race through sex and resides in the genetic structure of every body of every human being. Therefore, the status of spiritual death was passed down to Adam’s posterity since spiritual death entered the human race through the sin nature. Spiritual death is the status of possessing a sin nature due to the imputation of Adam’s original sin in the Garden of Eden. Therefore, our Lord had to die

2008 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 2 physically to solve the problem of the sin nature, which resides in the body of every human being. Our Lord’s resurrection body replaces the sinful body of Adam. The believer will receive a resurrection body like Christ in order to replace their physical bodies that possess the sin nature, the Adamic body. Therefore, God the Father viewed His Son’s spiritual death as negating spiritual death in the human race and viewed His physical death as negating the sin nature. Personal sin perpetuated the status of real spiritual death and through the function of human volition is the product of the sin nature. Consequently, the sinner who is declared justified through faith in Christ is identified with Christ in His spiritual death in order to solve the sinner’s problem of real spiritual death whereas the sinner is identified with Christ in His physical death in order to solve the sinner’s problem with the old sin nature. Therefore, Christ’s spiritual and physical death resolved the human race’s problem with the sin nature, spiritual death and personal sins. Thus, there is a clear pattern in that the first Adam sinned and then, he died spiritually while simultaneously acquiring a sin nature and then he died physically (Genesis 5:5) and this sin nature is passed down at physical birth. The last Adam obeyed the Father, died spiritually as a Substitute for Adam and his posterity, and then died physically to break the power of the sin nature. Then, the last Adam was raised from physical death and received a resurrection body, which would be passed down to His spiritual posterity, namely, those who trust in Him as Savior. In Romans 6, Paul follows this pattern. Thus, in Romans 6:3, he speaks of the justified sinner being identified with Christ in His spiritual death so as to solve his problem of being spiritually dead. In other words, the justified sinner is identified with Christ in His spiritual death in order to solve the problem of the consequences of possessing a sin nature and committing sin by obeying the desires of the sin nature. Romans 6:3, “Or, are some of you in a state of ignorance concerning the fact that all of us who have been identified with Christ, who is Jesus, have been identified with His spiritual death?” Then, in Romans 6:4, he speaks of the justified sinner being identified with Christ in His physical death so as to break the power of the sin nature. Romans 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.” In Romans 6:5, the apostle teaches that the justified sinner is identified with Christ in His resurrection in order to solve the problem of possessing a sin nature. This identification with Christ’s resurrection solves the problem of the sin nature

2008 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 3 that resides in the human body in that it guarantees that the believer will receive a resurrection body like the last Adam, Christ so as to replace his sinful body. Therefore, in Romans 6:3, the noun thanatos , “ death ” is a reference to the spiritual death of Christ, which dealt with the consequences of obeying the desires of the sin nature and committing personal sin. However, in Romans 6:4, Paul teaches that the believer is identified with Jesus Christ in His physical death since thanatos , “ death ” is used in relation to our Lord’s burial, which certified that a person was physically dead. Our Lord’s physical death broke the power of the sin nature. Then in Romans 6:5, Paul teaches that the justified sinner is identified with Christ in His resurrection in order to solve the problem of possessing a sin nature and it guarantees him that he will receive a resurrection body to replace his sinful body. Thus, it guarantees the complete eradication of the justified sinner’s sin nature that resides in his human body due to the imputation of Adam’s sin in the Garden of Eden. Therefore, in Roman 6:5, the apostle Paul employs the conjunction gar to introduce a first class conditional statement that draws an inference or self-evident conclusion from his teaching in Romans 6:2-4 that the believer is dead to the sin nature because he has been identified with Christ in both His and spiritual and physical deaths. The protasis of the first class conditional statement affirms Paul’s teaching in Romans 6:2-4 that through the baptism of the Holy Spirit, the believer is dead to the sin nature because he has been identified with Christ in both His physical and spiritual deaths. The believer’s identification with Christ in His spiritual death solves his problem with the consequences of possessing a sin nature and obeying its desires whereas his identification with Christ’s physical death solves his problem of the sin nature, which resides in his physical body. In Romans 6:5, the apodasis then draws an inference from this statement that the believer has also been identified with Christ in His resurrection in the sense that he will also receive a resurrection body like Christ that will replace his sinful body. We will translate gar , “ Therefore .” Romans 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.” “If ” is the conditional particle ei ( ei)) (i), which introduces a protasis of a first class condition that indicates the assumption of truth for the sake of argument. In Romans 6:5, the conditional particle ei , “ if ” is employed with the indicative mood of the verb ginomai , “ we have become .” Together, they explicitly convey a protasis of a first class condition that indicates the assumption of truth for the sake

2008 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 4 of argument. However, the apodasis is introduced implicitly meaning without a structural marker, thus we will insert the word “ then ” into our translation before the apodasis statement in order to account for this. The idea behind the first class condition in Romans 6:5 is not “since” but rather, “if-and let us assume for the sake of argument, then...” This would encourage Paul’s Jewish audience to respond and come to the conclusion of the apodosis since they already agreed with him on the protasis. Therefore, Paul is employing the first class condition as a tool of persuasion with his audience. In Romans 6:5, the protasis is “if and let assume that it is true for the sake argument that we have become united (with Christ) in the likeness of His physical death and of course we know for certain that this is true.” The apodasis is “(then) certainly, we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection.” In Romans 6:4, the basic relation that the protasis has to the apodasis is “evidence-inference.” The “evidence” is that the Christian has been identified with Christ in His physical death through the baptism of the Holy Spirit. The “inference” is that the Christian is identified with Christ in His resurrection and will therefore be raised from the dead like Christ was. The response to Paul’s protasis by his Christian readership would be obvious. Of course they believe that they were identified with Christ in His death! They would agree emphatically with his protasis. Thus, we call this a “responsive” condition. He is not attempting to prove that his protasis is true rather he is saying with the first class condition that we agree that this doctrine is true that we have been identified with Christ in His physical death, which breaks the power of the old Adamic sin nature. The first class condition would then persuade them to respond to the conclusion found in the apodasis that they will emphatically be raised from the dead like Christ. Therefore, Paul’s audience would have to come to his conclusion if they submit to this line of argumentation. So, we will translate the conditional particle ei , “ if, and let us assume that it is true for the sake of argument…Of course we believe this is true…Then…” Romans 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.” “We have become ” is the first person plural perfect active indicative form of the verb (givnomai ) (ghin-om-i), which means, “to become something that you weren’t before, to enter into a new state or condition.” In our present context, the word means that the moment the sinner exercised faith in Jesus Christ as his or her Savior, and was thus declared justified by the Father, he “entered into a new state or condition” through the baptism of the Spirit of being identified with Christ in His physical death.

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The first person plural form of the verb sunthapto is an “inclusive we” referring to Paul and his audience, who like himself, are sinners who have been declared justified by God through faith in Jesus Christ. The perfect tense is an “intensive perfect,” which emphasizes a present state produced by a past action. The present state refers to the justified sinner being identified with Christ in His physical death. The past action is the sinner’s decision to trust in Jesus Christ as his or her Savior resulting in the Holy Spirit identified the justified sinner with Christ in His physical and spiritual deaths as well as His resurrection and session. The “intensive” perfect is best translated into English with a present tense. Now, most of the English translations render the perfect tense of the verb ginomai in this passage as an “extensive” or “consummative” perfect, which emphasizes the completed action of a past action from which a present state emerges. They usually render ginomai in Romans 6:5, “we have become” or “we have been.” So this type of perfect tense emphasizes the completed action of a past act rather than the present state, which emerges from a past action. The perfect tense of ginomai is clearly an “intensive” perfect and should be translated accordingly with the English present. This is indicated by the context since Paul is employing a first class condition as a tool to persuade his audience. In the protasis, he presents a statement that his audience would agree with, so that they would have to come to his conclusion in the apodasis. Now for them to agree with his apodasis that they are identified with Christ in His resurrection, the believer must already exist in a state of being identified with Christ in His physical death. There must be a present state existing in order for the apodasis to have its intended impact. This is supported in that the active voice of the verb is also “stative” emphasizing that the justified sinner “exists in the state of being” identified with Christ in His physical death. The indicative mood of the verb is “conditional” meaning that it is employed with the conditional particle ei , “ if and let us assume that it is true for the sake of argument ” in order to form the protasis of a first class condition that indicates the assumption of truth for the sake of argument. We will translate ginomai , “ we are entered into .” Corrected translation thus far of Romans 6:5: “ Therefore, if and let us assume that it is true for the sake of argument that we are entered into…Of course, we believed this is true…” Romans 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.” “United ” is the nominative masculine plural form of the adjective sumphutos (suvmfuto$ ) (soom-foo-tos), which is a compound word composed of the

2008 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 6 preposition sun , “together with” and the verb phuo , “to grow up,” thus the word literally means, “to grow up together with.” Liddell and Scott list the following meanings for this word, “born with one, congenital, innate; natural; like by nature, cognate, kindred; grown together; thickly wooded; fully cultivated.” (Page 1689) Vine makes the following comment, he writes, “ Sumphutos , firstly, ‘congenital, innate’ (from sumphuo , ‘to make to grow together’), then, ‘planted’ or ‘grown along with, united with,’ Rom 6:5, KJV, ‘planted together,’ RV, ‘united with Him,’ indicating the union of the believer with Christ in experiencing spiritually ‘the likeness of His death.’” (Vine’s Expository Dictionary of Biblical Words, Copyright (c) 1985, Thomas Nelson Publishers) The Analytical Greek Lexicon Revised lists the following meanings, “planted together, grown together; in NT metaphorically, grown together, closely entwined or united with.” (Page 384) A Greek-English Dictionary of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature lists the following meanings, “grown together.” (Page 780) The New Thayer’s Greek-English Lexicon lists the following meanings, “planted together; born together with, of joint origin; connate, congenital, innate, implanted by birth or nature; grown together, united with.” (Pages 597-598) Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament Based on Semantic Domains lists the following meanings for the word, “pertaining to being closely associated in a similar experience – ‘to be like, to be one with’ (Volume 2, page 792). The adjective sumphutos appears only once in the Greek New Testament, in Romans 6:5. Charles Hodge commenting on the word’s usage in Romans 6:5, writes, “Calvin and many others translate the Greek here as ‘inserted,’ ‘engrafted,’ as though it were derived from the word ‘to plant.’ It is, however, from the Greek ‘to bear’ and ‘to grow.’ Hence the word here sometimes means ‘born with,’ in the sense of ‘innate’; sometimes it expresses unity of origin or nature, in the sense of ‘cognate,’ ‘congenial’; and sometimes it is used to refer to things born or produced at the same time. There is always the idea of close union, and that is the idea here.” (Hodge, C: Commentary on the Epistle to the Romans, 1835) Winfried Elliger makes the following comment regarding the adjective’s usage in Romans 6:5, he writes, “Within the context of the sun -statements in verses 1-11 sumphutos emphasizes especially the indivisible, eternally valid, and as it were organic fusion of believers with the salvation event in Christ (The Exegetical Dictionary of the New Testament, volume 2, page 290). Kenneth Wuest makes the following comment regarding the word’s usage in Romans 6:5, he writes, “The word speaks of that vital union of the believing sinner and the Lord Jesus mentioned in verses 3 and 4 where God places him into Christ

2008 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 7 at the Cross to share His death and resurrection.” (Word Studies from the Greek New Testament: Studies in the Vocabulary of the Greek New Testament: Grand Rapids: Eerdmans) Many expositors of Romans 6:5 interpret that Paul employs this adjective sumphutos because he had in mind the process of grafting branches into a tree much like the Lord’s Vine and the Branches Metaphor recorded by John in John 15. However, this adjective does not appear in John 15. There is nothing in the context that would warrant sumphutos to be interpreted this way. Furthermore, the word was used many times in secular Greek without any horticultural ideas in mind. Cranfield states, “The quite numerous occurrences of the word do not provide the evidence of its having had special associations with grafting which would justify this assumption. It seems appropriate to ask whether there has not been a tendency among exegetes and theologians generally to read more into this verse than the language used in it really warrants. It seems quite likely that some such translation as ‘united’ or ‘assimilated’ would better represent Paul’s meaning than ‘grown together’” (A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Epistle to the Romans, volume 1, page 285; T & T Clark, New York-London). In Romans 6:5, the adjective sumphutos functions as a substantive and means, “union with.” In context, the word is used in relation to Christ’s physical death. The word denotes that the sinner has been entered into “union with” Jesus Christ through the baptism of the Spirit the moment he was declared justified by the Father as a result of exercising faith in His Son Jesus Christ as their Savior. This union is indivisible and eternal in the viewpoint of God as a result of the omnipotence of the Holy Spirit in identifying the justified sinner with Christ in His physical death. In the Greek New Testament, there are at least eight different analogies that express the justified sinner’s union with Christ: (1) The last Adam and the New Creation (1 Cor. 15:45; 2 Cor. 5:17a). (2) The Head and the Body (Col. 1:18a). (3) The Great Shepherd and the Sheep (Heb. 13:20). (4) The True Vine and the Branches (John 15:5a). (5) The Chief Cornerstone and the Stones in the building (Eph. 2:20; 1 Pet. 2:5-6). (6) The Great High Priest and members of the Royal Priesthood (Heb. 4:14a; 1 Pet. 2:9a). (7) The Groom and the Bride. (Our wedding occurs at the Second Advent) (Rev. 19:7). (8) The King of Kings and the Royal Family of God (Rev. 19:14-16). The prepositional phrases “ in Christ, in Christ Jesus, in the Lord, in Him, in Whom ” are in some way or another reference to the Christian’s union with the Christ.

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“In Christ ”: Rom. 8:1; 12:5; 16:3, 7-10; 1 Cor. 3:1; 4:10, 15, 17; 15:18-19; 2 Cor. 2:14, 17; 3:14; 5:17, 19; 12:2, 19; Gal. 1:22, Eph. 1:3, 10, 12, 20; Eph. 2:10, 13; Col. 1:2; 1 Thess. 4:16; Philemon 8; 1 Pet. 3:16; 5:14. “In Christ Jesus ”: 1 Cor. 1:2, 30; 15:31; 16:24; Gal. 2:4; Gal. 3:26, 28; Phil. 1:1, 13; 2:1, 5; 3:3, 14; 4:21; Eph. 1:1; 2:6; Eph. 2:10, 13; 3:6, 11; Col. 1:4, 28; 1 Thess. 2:14; 5:18; 1 Tim. 1:14; 3:13; 2 Tim. 1:1, 9, 13; 2:1, 10; 3:12, 15; Philemon 23. “In Him ”: 1 Cor. 5:21; 2 Cor. 13:4; Eph. 1:4; Phil. 3:9; Col. 2:7, 10. “In the Lord ”: Rom. 16:11-13, 22; 1 Cor. 1:31; 4:17; 7:39; 9:1-2; 11:11; 15:58; 16:19; 2 Cor. 10:17; Eph. 2:21; 4:17; 5:8; 6:1, 10, 21; Phil. 1:14; 3:1; 4:1-2, 4, 10; Col. 4:7, 17; 1 Thess. 3:8; 5:12; 2 Thess. 3:4, 12; Philemon 16, 20. “In Whom ”: Eph. 1:11; Col. 2:3, 11. In Romans 6:5, the adjective sumphutos functions as the predicate nominative indicating it is making an assertion about the subject. Paul and his fellow Christian readership function as the subject. Therefore, the assertion is that Paul and his fellow Christians were entered into “union with” Jesus Christ through the baptism of the Spirit the moment they were declared justified by the Father as a result of exercising faith in Jesus Christ as their Savior. We will translate sumphutos , “ union .” Corrected translation thus far of Romans 6:5: “ Therefore, if and let us assume that it is true for the sake of argument that we are entered into union…Of course, we believed this is true…” Romans 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.” “With Him ” is the dative masculine third person singular form of the personal pronoun autos ( au)tov$ ) (ow-tos), which does not appear in the original Greek text of Romans 6:5 but is correctly added by the translators. Douglas Moo disagrees, he writes, “With a dative already present to function as the subject of sumphutoi -to homoiomati -the addition of auto is unnecessary. Sumphutoi can certainly express a union between things different in nature (e.g. people and ‘the likeness of his death’), and verse 4a show that Paul in this context thinks of believers as united not only with Christ but also with events of His life” (The Epistle to the Romans, page 335; William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company; Grand Rapids, Michigan/Cambridge, U.K.). However, it is indeed possible that Paul could be making an elliptical statement that is a complete thought when he uses the expression gegonamen sumphutoi and omits auto . Thus, the omitted intensive personal pronoun auto would be functioning as a “dative of association” indicating that the Christian is “associated with” Christ.

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The expression to homoiomati thou thanatou autou would be “clarifying” in what way the Christian is in union with Christ. Though it is true statement that believers are “united not only with Christ but also with events of His life,” the passage is much clearer in sense if we insert auto , “ with Him ” and view the expression to homoiomati tou thanatou autou as clarifying for the reader in what sense the believer is in union with Christ. Therefore, in Romans 6:5, “ with Him ” is the dative masculine third person singular form of the personal pronoun autos ( au)tov$ ) (ow-tos), which refers to the Jesus Christ since its agrees in gender and number with its antecedent, which is the accusative masculine singular form of the proper name Christos , “ Christ ” that appears in the hina purpose-result clause Romans 6:4. The word functions grammatically as a “dative of association” indicating that the believer in Jesus Christ is considered in the viewpoint of God as being associated with Christ. We will translate autos , “ with Him .” Corrected translation thus far of Romans 6:5: “ Therefore, if and let us assume that it is true for the sake of argument that we are entered into union with Him…Of course, we believed this is true…” Romans 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.” “In the likeness of His death ” is composed of the articular dative neuter singular form of the noun homoioma ( o(moivwma ) (hom-oy-o-ma), “ in the likeness ” and the articular genitive masculine singular form of the noun thanatos (qavnato$ ) (than-at-os), “ death ” and the genitive masculine singular form of the intensive personal pronoun autos (au)tov$ ) (ow-tos), “ His ” The noun homoioma refers to “what is made similar, copy, like-shaped, likeness, and image.” It is used to indicate something that is similar, though not necessarily identical, with something else, but resembles in some important way that with which it is compared. The word is rare is secular Greek appearing in Plato, Aristotle, and Epicurus and occasionally in the papyri and always has the concrete sense of “copy” rather than the abstract sense of likeness or correspondence and is thus synonymous to eikon . Eikones and homoiomata are often used as equivalents and appear in Plato’s writings of the earthly copies of the heavenly prototypes. (Plato, Phaedr. 250b). But there is often a distinction between the two words. Eikon represents the object, whereas homoioma emphasizes the similarity, but with no need for an inner connection between the original and the copy. The former is considered more as an entity in itself, whereas the latter stresses more the element of comparison.

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Homoioma occurs frequently in the Septuagint where it appears some 40 times. The Septuagint uses homoioma to translate the Hebrew temunah which is translated “similitude” or “likeness.” The word is used for demuth , tavnith , temunah and infrequently ` ayin . Homoioma appears 6 times in the Greek New Testament (Rom. 1:23; 5:14; 6:5; 8:3; Phil. 2:7; Rev. 9:7). Bauer lists the following meanings for the word in the NT (A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature page 567): (1) “likeness” (Rom. 5:14; 6:5). (2) “image, copy” (Rom. 1:23). (3) “form, appearance” (Rev. 9:7). (4) “similar to, looking like” (Rom. 8:3; Phil. 2:7). The New Thayer’s Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament lists the following definitions for the word in the NT (page 445): (1) “figure, image, likeness, representation” (Rev. 9:7). (2) “likeness, resemblance (inasmuch as that appears in an image or figure), frequently such as amounts well-nigh to equality or identity (Rom. 1:23; 5:14; 6:5; 8:3; Phil. 2:7). Louw and Nida define homoioma as “the state of being similar to something- ‘similarity, likeness, being similar’ (Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament Based on Semantic Domains volume 2, page 617). Vine’s Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words states that homoioma “denotes that which is made like something, a resemblance”: (1) Concrete sense, Rev. 9:7, “shapes, likenesses” (b) Abstract sense, Rom. 1:23, “likeness (of an image)”; 5:14, “(the) likeness of Adam’s transgression”; 6:5, “(the) likeness (of His death); 8:3, “(the) likeness (of sinful flesh); Phil. 2:7, “the likeness of men.” In Romans 6:5, the noun homoioma means, “conformity” since the word emphasizes correspondence and similarity with the reference to the concrete, individual form. The term “conformity” reflects the meaning of homoioma since like the latter, the former denotes correspondence in form, nature and character and agreement. Homoioma emphasizes a correspondence between the justified sinner and Christ’s physical death on the Cross in the sense that the justified sinner through the omnipotence of the Holy Spirit “corresponds in form, nature and character and agreement with” Christ’s physical death. The noun homoioma is a “dative of simple apposition” meaning that the word stands in apposition to the intensive personal pronoun auto , which is omitted but implied. As a “dative of simple apposition” the word is “clarifying” for the reader in what way the Christian is union with Christ. The article preceding the noun homoioma is “anaphoric” indicating that this word denotes a concept that has been mentioned in Romans 6:4, namely, retroactive positional truth, i.e. when Christ died God considers the justified sinner to have died also with Christ. The article points back to Romans 6:4 and the

2008 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 11 expression sunetaphemen auto dia tou baptismatos eis ton thanaton , “ we have been buried with Him through baptism with respect to His physical death.” The articular construction also indicates the “uniqueness” of Christ’s physical death in that He is the only sinless person and the only member of the human race to die of His own volition. This “monadic” notion is indicated by the genitive expression that follows homoioma , which is tou thanatou autou , “ His physical death .” The justified sinner is “conformed” to Christ’s physical death in the sense that Christ’s physical death solved the justified sinner’s problem of the sin nature. Therefore, the justified sinner’s union with Christ’s physical death is God’s viewpoint of the justified sinner. The justified sinner is “conformed to” Christ’s physical death in the sense that it God’s viewpoint of the justified sinner since he is no longer under the headship of Adam but under the headship of Christ. God now views the justified sinner as He views Christ, namely, having died physically on the Cross so as to negate the sin nature that entered the human race through the transgression of Adam. Just as God viewed the sinner as having sinned when Adam sinned in the Garden of Eden so God views the justified sinner as having died physically on the Cross when Christ died physically. Homoioma also denotes what God has done on behalf of the justified sinner through the baptism of the Holy Spirit. As we noted in our study of baptizo in Romans 6:3 and baptisma in Romans 6:4, the former denotes the act of identifying the justified sinner with Christ and the latter resulted condition of being identified with Christ. When I say that the Spirit “identifies” us with Christ, I mean that at the moment of salvation, the omnipotence of God the Holy Spirit causes the believer to become identical and united with Christ and also ascribes to the believer the qualities and characteristics of Christ. Therefore, when Paul speaks of the justified sinner as being “conformed to” Christ’s physical death, he is speaking of the justified sinner’s “position” in Christ rather than his “experience.” When I say “positionally” I am referring to what God has done for the church age believer and His viewpoint of the church age believer meaning He views the believer as He views His Son and does “not” view the believer according to his sins and transgressions and former manner of life prior to salvation. This is because the justified sinner is now under the headship of Christ rather than Adam’s headship. In the apodasis of Romans 6:5, Paul teaches that the justified sinner will be “conformed” with Christ’s resurrection meaning that he will receive a resurrection

2008 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 12 body like Christ’s, which will permanently eradicate his present sinful body that he received via the imputation of Adam’s sin at his physical birth. Therefore, the believer is entered into union with Christ with the respect to conformity to His physical death on the Cross in the sense that this is God’s viewpoint of the believer as a result of what He has accomplished for the believer through the baptism of the Spirit. In Romans 6:1-10, Paul is speaking in the context of the believer’s position in Christ or in other words, his union and identification with Christ in His death, burial and resurrection. He is not speaking in these verses in relation the believer’s practice. In Romans 6:11-23, Paul speaks with reference to the believer’s practice in the sense that he commands them to live in a manner that is consistent with their position in Christ, i.e. their union and identification with Christ in His death and resurrection. As we will note in our study of thanatos , the noun homoioma should be converted into the verbal form “ conformed to ” since thanatos functions as an objective genitive. In Romans 6:5, the noun thanatos , “ death ” is being used with reference to the Lord Jesus Christ’s physical death as indicated by verse 4. Romans 6:4, “Therefore, we have been buried with Him through baptism with respect to His physical death in order that just as Christ was raised from the dead ones through the glory of the Father, in the same way, we, ourselves will also walk in the realm of an extraordinary life.” As we have noted, the death of the physical body of Christ resolved the problem of the sin nature since the sin nature resides in the physical body of the sinner. It also broke power of the sin nature that had total control over the Christian prior to being declared justified through faith in Christ. The noun thanatos functions as an “objective genitive” meaning that it functions semantically as the direct object of the verbal idea implicit in the noun homoioma , which is indicated in that homoioma can be converted into the verbal form “ conformed ” and thanatos into its direct object. The definite article preceding the noun thanatos is used with the personal pronoun autos , “ His ” to denote possession indicating that this physical death “belong to” Christ. We will translate autos , “ His ” and thanatos , “ physical death .” Corrected translation thus far of Romans 6:5: “ Therefore, if and let us assume that it is true for the sake of argument that we are entered into union with Him, conformed to His physical death. Of course, we believed this is true.” Romans 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.”

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As we noted earlier in our study of the conditional particle ei ( ei)) (i), introduces a protasis of a first class condition that indicates the assumption of truth for the sake of argument. The word is employed with the indicative mood of the verb apothnesko , “ died .” Together, they explicitly convey a protasis of a first class condition that indicates the assumption of truth for the sake of argument. However, the apodasis is introduced implicitly meaning without a structural marker. Therefore, we will insert the word “ then ” into our translation before the apodasis statement in order to account for this. “Certainly ” is the adversative use of the conjunction alla ( a)llav) (al-lah), which intensifies the apodasis of the first class conditional statement in Romans 6:5 and emphasizes the “certainty” that the justified sinner will be conformed physically to Christ’s resurrection. Paul is saying in this first class conditional statement that if the justified sinner is in union with Christ with respect to conformity with His physical death, then, “certainly” he will be in conformity with His resurrection. Corrected translation thus far of Romans 6:5: “ Therefore, if and let us assume that it is true for the sake of argument that we are entered into union with Him, conformed to His physical death. Of course, we believed this is true. Then, certainly…” Romans 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.” “We shall be ” is the first person plural singular future (deponent) middle indicative form of the verb eimi ( ei)miv) (i-mee), which means, “to possess certain characteristics.” In context, it means that the believer “possesses the characteristic” of being conformed to Christ’s resurrection in that he will receive a resurrection body like Christ’s. The first person plural form of the verb is an “inclusive we” referring to Paul and his audience, who like himself, are sinners who have been declared justified by God through faith in Jesus Christ. The future tense of the verb is a “predictive” future tense indicating that something will take place or come to pass. Therefore, it indicates that the believer will possess the characteristic of being conformed to Christ’s resurrection “in the future” when he receives his resurrection body at the rapture of the church. Some expositors of Romans 6:5 do not interpret the resurrection of the church as being in view but rather they interpret it as “gnomic” future emphasizes the “certainty” the believer lives his life in the power of Christ’s resurrection. They use Romans 6:4b to support their interpretation. In this passage, Paul teaches that the believer has been identified with Christ in His physical death and burial through the baptism of the Spirit in order that just as

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Christ was raised from the dead by means of the omnipotence of the Father so also in the same way, the believer will walk in the sphere of an extraordinary life. Romans 6:4, “Therefore, we have been buried with Him through baptism with respect to His physical death in order that just as Christ was raised from the dead ones through the glory of the Father, in the same way, we, ourselves will also walk in the realm of an extraordinary life.” However, in Romans 6:4b, Paul is speaking in the context of the believer’s “position” and not his “experience,” which he doesn’t address till Romans 6:11-23. Furthermore, in Romans 6:4-5, Paul is teaching that the believer has been identified with Christ in His physical death, i.e. retroactive positional truth. He is teaching that the Christian is conformed to this physical death. Therefore, since he is addressing the subject of the death of the Christ’s body and the Christian being conformed to this death in a positional sense, he is definitely referring to the Christian being conformed to Christ’s resurrection body in a positional sense in the sense of receiving a resurrection body. In Romans 6:5, the middle voice of the verb eimi is “deponent” meaning that it has an active voice meaning even though it has a middle voice form. The active voice meaning is “stative” meaning that the subject exists in the state indicating by the verb. Therefore, the “deponent” middle voice emphasizes that Paul and all sinners justified by faith in Jesus Christ will in the future possess the characteristic of being conformed to the resurrection of Christ in the sense that they will receive a resurrection body at the rapture of the church, which is imminent. The indicative mood is “declarative” presenting this assertion as an unqualified statement. The verb eimi functions as a substantive. We will translate eimi , “ we will be .” Corrected translation thus far of Romans 6:5: “ Therefore, if and let us assume that it is true for the sake of argument that we are entered into union with Him, conformed to His physical death. Of course, we believed this is true. Then, certainly, we will be…” Romans 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.” “Also ” is the “adjunctive” use of the conjunction kai ( kaiV), which introduces an “additional” way in which the Christian will be in conformity with Christ. The Christian will be in conformity with Christ in His resurrection “in addition to” being conformed to His physical death. We will translate kai , “ also .” Corrected translation thus far of Romans 6:5: “ Therefore, if and let us assume that it is true for the sake of argument that we are entered into union with

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Him, conformed to His physical death. Of course, we believed this is true. Then, certainly, we will also be…” Romans 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.” The remainder of the apodasis is elliptical meaning that Paul is leaving out words that are clearly implied and should be supplied from the protasis. The expressions sumphutoi auto and to homoiomati autou , which appear in the protasis should be inserted at this point in the apodasis. Though it makes perfect sense in the Greek to have the apodasis elliptical, it is important in our exegesis that we point out the words Paul is omitting in order to make sense of the passage both grammatically and syntactically. The first word omitted by Paul is the nominative masculine plural form of the adjective sumphutos ( suvmfuto$ ) (soom-foo-tos), which appeared in the protasis. In Romans 6:5, the adjective sumphutos functions as a substantive and means, “union.” In context, the word is used in relation to Christ’s resurrection. The word denotes that the sinner will be “united” with Jesus Christ in His resurrection. As was the case in the protasis, the adjective sumphutos in the apodasis functions as the predicate nominative indicating it is making an assertion about the subject. Paul and his fellow Christian readership function as the subject. Therefore, the assertion is that Paul and his fellow Christians will be “united” with Jesus Christ in His resurrection in the sense that like Christ they will receive a resurrection body. We will translate sumphutos , “ united .” Corrected translation thus far of Romans 6:5: “ Therefore, if and let us assume that it is true for the sake of argument that we are entered into union with Him, conformed to His physical death. Of course, we believed this is true. Then, certainly, we will also be united…” The second word omitted by Paul in the apodasis and which appears in the protasis is the dative masculine third person singular form of the personal pronoun autos ( au)tov$ ) (ow-tos), which refers to Jesus Christ. The word functions as a “dative of association” indicating that the Christian is “associated with” Christ. We will translate autos , “ with Him .” Corrected translation thus far of Romans 6:5: “ Therefore, if and let us assume that it is true for the sake of argument that we are entered into union with Him, conformed to His physical death. Of course, we believed this is true. Then, certainly, we will also be united with Him…” Lastly, in the apodasis of Romans 6:5, Paul omits the articular dative neuter singular form of the noun homoioma ( o(moivwma ) (hom-oy-o-ma), which appears in the protasis and is clearly implied in the apodasis.

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In the apodasis of Romans 6:5, the noun homoioma once again means, “conformity” since Paul is demonstrating the correspondence between the believer’s identification with Christ in His physical death and his identification with Christ in His resurrection. As we noted earlier, the word emphasizes correspondence and similarity with the reference to the concrete, individual form. The term “conformity” reflects the meaning of homoioma since like the latter, the former denotes correspondence in form, nature and character and agreement. Homoioma emphasizes a correspondence between the justified sinner and Christ’s resurrection from the dead in the sense that the justified sinner through the omnipotence of the Holy Spirit “corresponds in form, nature and character and agreement with” Christ’s resurrection. The noun homoioma is a “dative of simple apposition” meaning that the word stands in apposition to the intensive personal pronoun auto , which is omitted but implied. As a “dative of simple apposition” the word is “clarifying” for the reader another way in which the Christian is union with Christ. The article preceding the noun homoioma is “anaphoric” indicating that this word denotes a concept that has been mentioned in Romans 6:4, namely, current positional truth, i.e. when Christ rose from the dead God considers the justified sinner to have also been raised with Christ. The article points back to the hina purpose-result clause in Romans 6:4: hina hosper egerthe Christos ek nekron dia tes doxes tou patros houtos kai hemeis en kainoteti zoes peripatesomen , “ that just as Christ was raised from the dead ones through the glory of the Father, in the same way, we, ourselves will also walk in the realm of an extraordinary life.” The articular construction also indicates the “uniqueness” of Christ’s resurrection from the dead in that He is the only person to have done so. This “monadic” notion is indicated by the genitive expression that follows homoioma , which is tes anastaseos autou , “ His resurrection .” The justified sinner will be “conformed to” Christ’s resurrection at the rapture of the church will permanently eradicate the justified sinner’s old Adamic sin nature. Here in the apodasis of Romans 6:5, Paul is “guaranteeing” his fellow Christian readers and all Christians that they will be conformed to Christ’s resurrection since this is God’s viewpoint of the justified sinner who is under His Son’s headship. God now views the justified sinner as He views Christ, namely, he was raised with Christ so as to permanently eradicate the sin nature that entered the human race through the transgression of Adam. Just as God viewed the sinner as having sinned when Adam sinned in the Garden of Eden so God views the justified sinner as being raised from the dead when Christ was.

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Homoioma also denotes what God has done on behalf of the justified sinner through the baptism of the Holy Spirit. As we noted in our study of baptizo in Romans 6:3 and baptisma in Romans 6:4, the former denotes the act of identifying the justified sinner with Christ and the latter resulted condition of being identified with Christ. When I say that the Spirit “identifies” us with Christ, I mean that at the moment of salvation, the omnipotence of God the Holy Spirit causes the believer to become identical and united with Christ and also ascribes to the believer the qualities and characteristics of Christ. Therefore, when Paul speaks of the justified sinner as being “conformed to” Christ’s resurrection, he is speaking of the justified sinner’s “position” in Christ rather than his “experience.” When I say “positionally” I am referring to what God has done for the church age believer and His viewpoint of the church age believer meaning He views the believer as He views His Son and does “not” view the believer according to his sins and transgressions and former manner of life prior to salvation. This is because the justified sinner is now under the headship of Christ rather than Adam’s headship. Here in the apodasis of Romans 6:5, Paul teaches that the justified sinner will be “conformed to” Christ’s resurrection meaning that he will receive a resurrection body like Christ’s, which will permanently eradicate his present sinful body that he received via the imputation of Adam’s sin at his physical birth. Therefore, the believer is entered into union with Christ, conformed to His resurrection in the sense that this is God’s viewpoint of the believer as a result of what He has accomplished for the believer through the baptism of the Spirit. In Romans 6:1-10, Paul is speaking in the context of the believer’s position in Christ or in other words, his union and identification with Christ in His death, burial and resurrection. He is not speaking in these verses in relation the believer’s practice. In Romans 6:11-23, Paul speaks with reference to the believer’s practice in the sense that he commands them to live in a manner that is consistent with their position in Christ, i.e. their union and identification with Christ in His death and resurrection. Therefore, we will once again translate homoioma , “ conformed to .” Corrected translation thus far of Romans 6:5: “ Therefore, if and let us assume that it is true for the sake of argument that we are entered into union with Him, conformed to His physical death. Of course, we believed this is true. Then, certainly, we will also be united with Him, conformed to…” Romans 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 .” “His resurrection ” is the articular genitive feminine singular form of the noun anastasis ( a)navstasi$ ) (an-as-tas-is), which refers to the resurrection of Christ.

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The substantive anastasis is attested in the secular literature in both an active and a passive sense. The noun is derived from the verb anistemi which can have the following meanings: (1) Making to stand or rise up, raising up the dead (2) Making to rise and leave their place, removal, as of suppliants, mostly in a bad sense, desolation, disturbance (3) Setting up, erection (4) Standing or rising up (5) Rising up (6) Rising again after a fall (7) Rising from the dead. The verb anistemi builds up the verb histemi . Its meaning was widened to include appointing to an office or task. When used intransitively, it could mean to stand up, rise, start, appear, with the connotation of a revolt or political uprising. Especially with the participle it also expresses the beginning of an action, or readiness for it, e.g., of a conference, the beginning of a reign, of a movement. In post-Homeric writings it is also used of things, e.g., for the setting up or repairing or statues, altars, etc. Occasionally it means to get well. Exanistemi (Soph. Onwards) has the same meaning. Anastasis (Aeschylus and Herodotus onwards) and exanastasis (Hippocrates onwards) have the intransitive meaning of getting up, rising up (also from the dead). There was a strong tradition in Greek thought which denied the possibility of resurrection, referring either to the noun anastasis or the verb anistemi (Homer, Iliad 21, 56; 24, 551 and 756; Herodotus 3, 62; Aeschylus Ag. 1360f.; Eum. 648; Soph. El. 137 ff.; and probably Euripides, Hercules Furens 719). On the other hand, certain passages entertain the idea of resurrection as an isolated miracle (Plato, Symp. 179c; Lucianus, De Saltatione 45). Evidently the physician Aesculapius enjoyed the reputation of being able to raise the dead (Pseudo-Xenophon, Cynegeticus 1, 6; Pausanias, Periegeta 2, 26, 5; cf. 2, 27, 4). Apollonius of Tyana raised in Rome an apparently dead girl (Philostratus, Vita Apolloni 4, 45). But as we will note this was a resuscitation rather than a resurrection since Christ is the only human being to be raised from the dead possessing a body with an entirely different molecular structure composed of flesh, bone and spirit. Oepke concludes that “the idea of a general resurrection at the end of history is alien to the Greeks”, and thinks that it is attacked in the Phrygian inscription noted by Ramsay (ibid.; cf. W.M. Ramsay, The Cities and Bishoprics of Phrygia, 1895- 97, No. 323). Apart from transmigration of souls, for which anabioskesthai is used in Plato (Phaed. 72d), the Greek speaks of resurrection in a 2-fold sense: (1) Resurrection is impossible (Homer Iliad 24, 551) (2) Resurrection may take place as an isolated miracle (Plato Symp. 179c). Anastasis occurs only 6 times in the Septuagint (passive sense); no corresponding form exists in Hebrew. The noun anastasis is used in the Septuagint to translate the following Hebrew terms: (1) Qum ( swq ), Qal: “arise” (Zep. 3:8). (2) Qimah ( hmyq ), “rise up” (Lam. 3:63).

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Both the noun and the verb are used in the Septuagint synonymously for the Hebrew qum , “to arise, stand up” (in the hiphil), “to set up, raise.” Some Old Testament references to resurrection are implied and some are spoken of directly. Daniel 12:1-3, “Now at that time Michael, the great prince who stands {guard} over the sons of your people, will arise. And there will be a time of distress such as never occurred since there was a nation until that time; and at that time your people, everyone who is found written in the book, will be rescued. Many of those who sleep in the dust of the ground will awake, these to everlasting life, but the others to disgrace {and} everlasting contempt. Those who have insight will shine brightly like the brightness of the expanse of heaven, and those who lead the many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever.” In this passage in Daniel both the resurrection of the regenerate Jew and unbeliever at the conclusion of history is mentioned. Ezekiel 37:1-14, “The hand of the Lord was upon me, and He brought me out by the Spirit of the Lord and set me down in the middle of the valley; and it was full of bones. He caused me to pass among them round about, and behold, {there were} very many on the surface of the valley; and lo, {they were} very dry. He said to me, ‘Son of man, can these bones live?’ And I answered, ‘O Lord God, you know.’ Again He said to me, ‘Prophesy over these bones and say to them, ‘O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord.’ Thus says the Lord God to these bones, ‘Behold, I will cause breath to enter you that you may come to life. I will put sinews on you, make flesh grow back on you, cover you with skin and put breath in you that you may come alive; and you will know that I am the Lord.’ So I prophesied as I was commanded; and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and behold, a rattling; and the bones came together, bone to its bone. And I looked, and behold, sinews were on them, and flesh grew and skin covered them; but there was no breath in them. Then He said to me, ‘Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, ‘Thus says the Lord God, ‘Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they come to life.’ So I prophesied as He commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they came to life and stood on their feet, an exceedingly great army. Then He said to me, ‘Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel; behold, they say, ‘Our bones are dried up and our hope has perished. We are completely cut off.’ Therefore prophesy and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God, ‘Behold, I will open your graves and cause you to come up out of your graves, My people; and I will bring you into the land of Israel. Then you will know that I am the Lord, when I have opened your graves and caused you to come up out of your graves, My people. I will put My Spirit within you and you will come to life,

2008 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 20 and I will place you on your own land. Then you will know that I, the Lord, have spoken and done it,’ declares the Lord.” This “dry bones” passage in Ezekiel 37 refers to the resurrection of Old Testament saints and Tribulational regenerate Jews at the Second Advent of Christ. Another obvious reference is in 1 Samuel 2:6, “ The Lord kills and makes alive; He brings down to Sheol and raises up .” Isaiah writes directly concerning the resurrection of Old Testament saints, Isaiah 26:19, “Your dead will live; their corpses will rise. You who lie in the dust, awake and shout for joy, for your dew {is as} the dew of the dawn, and the earth will give birth to the departed spirits .” The resurrection is implied rhetorically in Psalm 88:11, “ Will your lovingkindness be declared in the grave, your faithfulness in Abaddon ?” One passage in the Old Testament which emphatically states the resurrection of the Messiah is in Psalm 16:10, “ For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol; nor will you allow your Holy One to undergo decay .” Joseph had knowledge of the resurrection and we know this by his command that his bones be carried to Canaan when the children went into the land that was promised by God to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob his father. Genesis 50:24-26, “ Joseph said to his brothers, ‘I am about to die, but God will surely take care of you and bring you up from this land to the land which He promised on oath to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob. Then Joseph made the sons of Israel swear, saying, ‘God will surely take care of you, and you shall carry my bones up from here.’ So Joseph died at the age of one hundred and ten years; and he was embalmed and placed in a coffin in Egypt .” David writes of his resurrection, Psalm 17:15, “As for me, I shall behold your face in righteousness; I will be satisfied with your likeness when I awake .” The resurrection of Old Testament saints will not take place until the Second Advent of Christ. There were only resuscitations in the Old Testament such as Elijah and “ the widow’s son ” (1 Kings 17:17-24). Old Testament saints looked forward to the resurrection from the dead (Job 19:26; John 11:24; Heb. 6:2). It is found in Old Testament prophecy (Psa. 16:9-10; 22:22-31; 118:22-24). The noun anastasis appears 42 times in the Greek New Testament. Vine's Expository Dictionary of Biblical Words states the following, “ anastasis denotes (I) ‘a raising up,’ or ‘rising’ ( ana , ‘up,’ and histemi , ‘to cause to stand’), (Luke 2:34), ‘the rising up’; the KJV ‘again’ obscures the meaning; the Child would be like a stone against which many in Israel would stumble while many others would find in its strength and firmness a means of their salvation and spiritual life; (II), of ‘resurrection’ from the dead, (a) of Christ, (Acts 1:22; 2:31; 4:33; Rom. 1:4; 6:5; Phil. 3:10; 1 Pet. 1:3; 3:21); by metonymy, of Christ as the Author of ‘resurrection,’ (John 11:25); (b) of those who are Christ's at His

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Parousia (see coming), (Luke 14:14), ‘the resurrection of the just’; (Luke 20:33,35,36; John 5:29) (1st part), ‘the resurrection of life’; (11:24; Acts 23:6; 24:15) (1st part); (1 Cor. 15:21,42; 2 Tim. 2:18; Heb. 11:35) (2nd part), see raise, Note (3); (Rev. 20:5), ‘the first resurrection’; hence the insertion of ‘is’ stands for the completion of this ‘resurrection,’ of which Christ was ‘the firstfruits’; (20:6); (c) of ‘the rest of the dead,’ after the Millennium (cf. (Rev. 20:5)); (John 5:29) (2nd part), ‘the resurrection of judgment’; (Acts 24:15) (2nd part), ‘of the unjust’; (d) of those who were raised in more immediate connection with Christ's ‘resurrection,’ and thus had part already in the first ‘resurrection,’ (Acts 26:23) and (Rom. 1:4) (in each of which ‘dead’ is plural; see (Matt. 27:52)); (e) of the ‘resurrection’ spoken of in general terms, (Matt. 22:23; Mark 12:18; Luke 20:27; Acts 4:2; 17:18; 23:8; 24:21; 1 Cor. 15:12,13; Heb. 6:2); (f) of those who were raised in OT times, to die again, (Heb. 11:35) (1st part), lit., ‘out of resurrection.’” Louw and Nida list the following meanings for the noun anastasis (Greek- English Lexicon Based on Semantic Domains, volume 2): (1) To come back to life after having died once – ‘to come back to life, to live again, to be resurrected, resurrection’ (page 262). (2) A process of change from a lower to a higher status (page 738). (3) A change for the better (page 156). Bauer, Gingrich and Danker list the following meanings (A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature pages 60-61): (1) Rise (2) Resurrection from the dead (3) In the past: of Jesus’ resurrection (4) Of the future resurrection, at the Judgment Day. Thayer’s New Greek-English Lexicon list the following (pages 41-42): (1) A raising up, rising (2) A rising from the dead (a) That of Christ (b) That of all men at the end of the present age (3) The resurrection of certain in ancient Jewish story who were restored to life before burial. In Romans 6:5, the noun anastasis is clearly used with reference to the resurrection of Jesus Christ. The foundation of Christianity is built upon the resurrection of Christ since the integrity of our Lord is at issue and as attested by many witnesses He did rise from the dead as He said He would (Acts 1:22; 4:2, 33; 17:18; 23:6; 1 Cor. 15:14). The Lord Jesus predicted several times that He would rise from the dead on the third day in fulfillment of the Scriptures (Matt. 16:21; 17:9, 23; 20:19; 26:32; 27:63f. 28:6f; Mark 14:28; Luke 9:22; Mark 8:31; 9:9, 31; 10:34; Luke 18:33; 24:7, 46). Our Lord declared openly that He was the resurrection (John 14:6). John 11:25-26, “Jesus said to her, ‘I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?’”

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The apostles confirmed that He had risen from the dead on the 3rd day (Acts 1:22; 2:24, 32; 3:15). The resurrection of Christ demonstrated to all that He was indeed who He claimed to be, namely, the incarnate Son of God (Rm. 1:1-4). Romans 1:1-4, “Paul, a slave owned by Christ who is Jesus, called as an apostle, set apart for the gospel originating from God, which He promised beforehand through His prophets in the Holy Scriptures concerning His Son, who was born as a descendant of David with respect to His human nature. The One demonstrated as the Son of God by means of divine power with respect to a nature characterized by holiness because of the resurrection from the dead ones, Jesus Christ, our Lord. Neither the Romans nor the Jews could produce the body of our Lord to disclaim what the apostles were proclaiming to the world. It was in the interests of these two groups to put an end to such talk by simply producing the body which they could not since He had in fact risen from the dead. Not even a guard of Roman soldiers protecting the tomb could prevent the resurrection of the humanity of Christ. The tomb of our Lord was owned by Joseph of Arimathea who was rich and was sealed with large rock by the Romans at the request of the leaders of the Jews in order to prevent the theft of the body by the disciples (Matt. 27:62-66). Even our Lord’s enemies remembered distinctly say that He would rise from the dead on the third day. Pilate’s own soldiers were sent to perform the task of protecting the tomb (Matt. 28:14). These hardened Roman soldiers were terrified by the angel who rolled away the large rock which had sealed the tomb from entry on that Sunday morning of our Lord’s resurrection (Matt. 28:4). In fact some of the guard went into the city of Jerusalem to report the resurrection of Christ (Matt. 28:11-15). In Matthew’s day it was common knowledge in Jerusalem that these Roman soldiers had witnessed the angels rolling away the great rock which sealed the tomb and had accepted a bribe from the Jews to keep quiet about the resurrection (Matt. 28:15). It was the guards that spread the lie that the body had been stolen. The foundation of Christianity is built upon the resurrection of Christ since the integrity of our Lord is at issue and as attested by many witnesses He did rise from the dead as He said He would (Acts 1:22; 4:2, 33; 17:18; 23:6; 1 Cor. 15:14). C.S. Lewis wrote, “A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic-on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg-or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God: or else a madman or something worse.” (Mere Christianity, page 41; New York: Macmillan)

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The resurrection of Christ was a fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy (See Psalm 16:10). Psalm 16:10, “For You will not abandon my soul to Sheol; Nor will You allow Your Holy One to undergo decay.” It is also the greatest attested fact in all of human history and is mentioned by secular historians as well (Tacitus, Annals, XV, 44; Josephus, Antiquities, Book 18, chapter 3). Tacitus writes , “Christus , from whom the name (Christians) had its origin, suffered the extreme penalty during the reign of Tiberius at the hands of one of our procurators, Pontius Pilatus, and a most mischievous superstition, thus checked for the moment broke out not only in Judea, the first source of the evil, but even in Rome, where all things hideous and shameful from every part of the world find their centre and become popular” ( Annals XV, 44). Josephus writes, “Now, there was about this time Jesus, a wise man, if it be lawful to call him a man, for he was a doer of wonderful works-a teacher of such men as receive the truth with pleasure. He drew over to him both many of the Jews, and many of the Gentiles. He was the Christ; and when Pilate, at the suggestion of the principal men amongst us, had condemned him to the cross, those that loved him at the first did not forsake him, for he appeared to them alive again the third day , as the divine prophets had foretold these and ten thousand other wonderful things concerning him; and the tribe of Christians, so named from him, are not extinct at this day” (Antiquities Book 18, chapter 3). Talmud states, “On the eve of Passover Yeshu was hanged. For forty days before the execution took place, a herald went forth and cried, ‘He is going forth to be stoned because he has practiced sorcery and enticed Israel to apostasy. Any one who can say anything in his favor let him come forward and plead on his behalf.’ But since nothing was brought forward in his favor he was hanged on the eve of the Passover.” The resurrection of Christ is an historical fact of history that can be verified by eyewitnesses: (1) Disciples of Christ (Lk. 24:9-11; Acts 1:1-3; 21-22; 2:23-24; 31- 32; 3:14-15; 10:39-41; 13:29-39) (2) Roman Guard Protecting the Tomb of Jesus (Mt. 27:62-66; 28:11-15) (3) Enemies of Christ (Mt. 28:11-15; Acts 2). The resurrection of Christ can be verified by evidence: (1) The Empty Tomb (Jn. 20:2-9) (2) The Stone (Mt. 28:1-4; Mk. 16:1-4; Lk. 24:2) (3) Seal (Mt. 27:62- 66). (4) The Grave Clothes (Jn. 20:2-9) (5) The Roman Guard (Mt. 27:57-60; 28:11-15; Mk. 15:42-45; Lk. 23:50-52; Jn. 19:38). (6) The Silence of the Enemies of Christ at Pentecost (Acts 2) (7) The Transformed Lives of the Disciples of Jesus (8) The Existence of the Christian Church (9) The Observance of the First Day of the Week (Sunday) as the Lord’s Day (10) Christ’s Appearances (500 on more

2008 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 24 than one occasion: 1 Cor. 15:1-8; Peter 1 Cor. 15:5; 2 on the way to Emmaus Lk. 24:13-15; 11 apostles Jn. 20:24-28; Paul Acts 9). Luke alludes to this preponderance of incontrovertible evidence and eyewitnesses in Acts 1:1-3. The proclamation of the resurrection of Jesus could have not been maintained in Jerusalem for a single day, for a single hour, if the emptiness of the tomb had not been established as a fact for all concerned. The burden of proof rests not upon those who proclaim the resurrection as a historical fact but rather the burden of proof rests upon those who either deny that the tomb was found empty, or attempt to explain the absence of the Lord’s body by some other rationale. Remember the enemies of Christ went to extraordinary lengths to ensure the fact that the body of Jesus would not leave the tomb on the third day. The fact that the body of Jesus was not in the tomb despite the extreme security measures by our Lord’s enemies was indisputable evidence that He had risen. The last thing the enemies of Christ wanted was to have His body leave that tomb and yet it did! Neither the Romans nor the Jews could produce the body of our Lord to disclaim what the apostles were proclaiming to the world. It was in the interests of these two groups to put an end to such talk by simply producing the body which they could not since He had in fact risen from the dead. The resurrection body is composed of flesh, bone and spirit (See Luke 24:39) and every church age believer will receive a resurrection body at the Rapture of the Church (1 John 3:2), which was a mystery, not known to Old Testament prophets (1 Cor. 15:51-53). Church age believers will have a resurrection body like our Lord’s (1 John 3:2) since the same power that raised the humanity of Christ from the dead will raise every church age believer from the dead at the Rapture (Rom. 8:11). The four gospels agree that Jesus’ body was placed in a tomb after His crucifixion and that on the third day it was empty. Even our Lord’s enemies could not dispute that the tomb was empty. Our Lord’s enemies could have simply disproved the resurrection of Christ and stop all the talk in Jerusalem concerning it if they could have simply produced the body, which they knew they could not. They didn’t even attempt to arrest the apostles in order to obtain because they trusted in the veracity of the Roman soldiers who were under the command of Pilate himself. The silence of the Jewish leaders is as significant as the boldness of speech by our Lord’s disciples. The grave clothes were undisturbed in the tomb thus incontrovertible evidence that our Lord’s body was not stolen by grave robbers since they would not take the time to make sure everything was in proper order because of time constraints to commit such a crime. Our Lord’s body was buried with myrrh, which glues linen to the body not less firmly than lead.

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The gospels describe an orderly scene, not one of confusion that would have resulted had the grave clothes been torn from the body. That something extraordinary had taken place is shown by the fact that John “saw and believed” (John 20:8). The five written accounts (the 4 Gospels and 1 Cor. 15) tell of ten different appearances by Jesus after the Resurrection, five on the 1st day, five more spread over forty days, then an abrupt cessation. Only one resurrection has taken place in human history-the humanity of our Lord Jesus Christ. He was the first fruits in resurrection (1 Cor. 15:23). There were only resuscitations prior to the humanity of Christ’s resurrection. The resurrection involves the total and complete eradication of the old sin nature whereas resuscitation does not. It is a body composed of flesh, bone and spirit, but no blood where the old sin nature resides. The resurrection body is composed a totally different molecular structure that is designed to exist with God in the eternal state. Eternal life is a pre-requisite for receiving a resurrection body like the Lord Jesus Christ’s. The resurrection body needs eternal life to function and eternal life is an attribute of God. The next group of people to resurrected from the dead is the church at the Rapture. Everyone else who was raised from the dead in the Old Testament and in the New Testament was resuscitated . The following is a list of those who were resuscitated in both the Old and New Testaments: (1) Elijah & “ the widow’s son ” (1 Kings 17:17-24). (2) “ The daughter of Jairus ” was resuscitated by our Lord (Matt. 9:18-26; Mark 5:21-26; Luke 8:41-56). (3) “ The widow’s son ” was resuscitated by our Lord” (Luke 7:11- 18). (4) “ Lazarus ” was resuscitated by our Lord after being dead for 4 days (John 11:1-44). (5) “ Paul ” was resuscitated after being stoned at Lystra (Acts 14:19-20; 2 Cor. 12:2-4). (6) Paul resuscitated “ Eutychus ” who died after falling out of a 3rd floor window sill because fell asleep during one of Paul’s doctrine classes (Acts 20:7-12). The omnipotence of God the Holy Spirit raised our Lord from the dead (Rom. 1:4; 8:11). The same Divine Power that raised Him from the dead will raise us from the dead at the Rapture of the Church. The Lord Jesus Christ was trichotomous: (1) Body (2) Soul (3) Spirit. Therefore, our Lord’s death was unique: (1) His physical body went to the grave (Luke 23:50-53). (2) His human spirit went to heaven (Luke 23:46; John 19:30). (3) His human soul went into Paradise a compartment of Hades (Luke 23:43; Acts 2:27; 2:31; Eph. 4:9). God the Father and God the Holy Spirit are agents in the resurrection. The Lord was brought back from the dead by three categories of divine power: (1)

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Omnipotence of God The Father sent back our Lord’s human spirit to the body in the grave (Acts 2:24; Rom. 6:4; Eph. 1:20; Col. 2:12; 1 Thess. 1:10; 1 Pet. 1:21). (2) Omnipotence of God the Holy Spirit sent back our Lord’s human soul to the body in the grave (Rom. 1:4; 8:11; 1 Pet. 3:18). (3) Omnipotence of God the Son raised His physical body from the grave (John 6:39-40, 54 10:17-18). First in the order of events of the resurrection of our Lord is Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome start for the tomb (Luke 23:55-24:1). Then they find the stone, which was used by the Romans to seal the tomb, had been rolled away (Luke 24:2-9). This is followed by Mary Magdalene going to inform the disciples (John 20:1-2). Next, Mary, the mother of James, draws near the empty tomb and sees the angel (Matt. 28:1-2). She then goes back to meet the other women following with spices. Meanwhile Peter and John arrive, look in and depart (John 20:3-10). Mary Magdalene returns weeping, and then sees two angels, then Jesus Himself (John 20:11-18). The risen Christ bids her to tell the disciples (John 20:17-18). Mary (mother of James) meanwhile returns with the women (Luke 24:1-4). They return and see the two angels (Luke 24:5; Mark 16:5). They also hear the angel’s message that Christ has risen as He said He would (Matt. 28:6-8). On their way to find the disciples, they are also met by the resurrected Christ (Matt. 28:9-10). The Scriptures describe fifteen post-resurrection appearances by the resurrected Christ. There are a great variety of witnesses to the resurrection of Christ. Both men and women were witnesses to the fact that He had risen. He appeared before large groups to individuals as well as small intimate gatherings of individuals. The Lord Jesus appeared to one person (e.g. Peter 1 Cor. 15:5), to two on the way to Emmaus (Luke 24:13-15), to the eleven (John 20:24-28), and on one occasion to more than five hundred (1 Cor. 15:6). Especially important is Paul also known as Saul of Tarsus who was the greatest enemy of the early church. He was an intelligent and well-educated man and one with a bias against the Christians. But he is emphatic that he saw the risen Jesus, and this certainty altered the whole course of his subsequent life of suffering and persecutions. Importantly Paul made the claim early, for his letters, the oldest available documents that record this claim, were written within twenty or thirty years of Jesus’ death. Paul says that “most” of the five hundred to whom Jesus appeared were still alive (1 Cor. 15:6), thus they could be interrogated as to the veracity of such a claim. That there is no evidence of any serious attempt to refute the testimony to the resurrection of Christ is significant. Chronology of the Post-Resurrection Appearances of Christ are as follows: (1) Mary Magdalene (John 20:14-18; Mark 16:9). (2) The women returning from the

2008 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 27 tomb (Matt. 28:8-10). (3) Peter later on the day of the resurrection (Luke 24:34; 1 Cor. 15:5). (4) The disciples going to Emmaus in the evening (Luke 24:13-31). (5) The apostles (except Thomas) (Luke 24:36-45; John 20:19-24). (6) The apostles a week later (Thomas present) (John 20:24-29). (7) In Galilee to the 7 by the Lake of Tiberius (John 21:1-23). (8) In Galilee on a mountain to the apostles and 500 believers (1 Cor. 15:6). (9) At Jerusalem and Bethany again to James (1 Cor. 15:7). (10) To the 11 disciples (Matt. 28:16-20; Mark 16:14-20; Luke 24:33-53; Acts 1:3- 12). (11) At Olivet and the ascension (Acts 1:3-12). (12) To Paul near Damascus (Acts 9:3-6; 1 Cor. 15:8). (13) To Stephen outside Jerusalem (Acts 7:55). (14) To Paul in the temple (Acts 22:17-21; 23:11). (15) To John on the island of Patmos (Rev. 1:10-19). There evidently were more appearances that the Scriptures do not record but which are implied by John at the end of his gospel since our Lord gave the disciples many infallible proofs that He had indeed risen from the dead (John 21:25). The resurrection of Christ makes Christianity distinct from Buddhism, or Islam or any other religion on the face of the earth. The original accounts of Buddha never ascribe to him any such thing as a resurrection. In fact the earliest accounts of his death, we read that when Buddha died it was “with that utter passing away in which nothing whatever remains.” Mohammed died on June 8, 632 A.D. at the age of 61, at Medina, where his tomb is annually visited by thousands of devout Mohammedans. All the millions and millions of Jews, Buddhists and Mohammedans agree that their founders have never come up out of the dust of the earth in resurrection. As William Lane Craig states: “Without belief in the resurrection the Christian faith could not have come into being. The disciples would have remained crushed and defeated men. Even had they continued to remember Jesus as their beloved teacher, his crucifixion would have forever silenced any hopes of His being the Messiah. The cross would have remained the sad and shameful end of His career. The origin of Christianity therefore hinges on the belief of the early disciples that God raised Jesus from the dead” (Knowing the Truth About the Resurrection, pages 116-117). Christianity is based upon the resurrection of Christ. It stands or falls with the resurrection of Christ. If Jesus Christ didn’t rise from the dead, then He is the greatest deceiver of all time. If He did rise from the dead, then He is indeed the Son of God and we are obligated to worship and adore Him as our Lord and Savior. If the resurrection of Christ never took place, then as Paul says we as Christians are of all people to be most pitied (1 Co. 15:15-23). The apostles always appealed to the resurrection of Christ when evangelizing (cf. Acts 2:14-41). Not merely is the resurrection of Christ the principle theme of

2008 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 28 apostle’s message but if that doctrine were removed from his message, there would be no doctrine left. If you remove the doctrine of the resurrection of Christ from the Bible, everything else in the Bible is meaningless. For the resurrection is considered as being: (1) The explanation of Jesus’ death (2) Prophetically anticipated as the Messianic experience (3) Apostolically witnessed (4) The cause of the Baptism of the Spirit (5) Certifying the Messianic and Kingly position of Jesus of Nazareth. Thus the whole series of Peter’s arguments and conclusions is established entirely upon the resurrection of Christ. Without the resurrection Jesus’ claims as the Messiah would not be established. Without the resurrection there would still be no fulfillment of the prophecies concerning the Messiah’s suffering and glory. Without the resurrection the Baptism of the Spirit would not have taken place. If the resurrection of Christ is not historic fact, then the power of death remains unbroken, and with it the effect of sin and the significance of Christ’s death remains uncertified, and accordingly believers are yet in their sins, precisely where they were before they heard the name of Jesus. There is no hope for this lost and dying world under the deceptions of the Devil if Christ did not rise from the dead. The Gospels record the teaching of Jesus that He must be betrayed, killed and rise again (Mk. 8:31; Lk. 9:22). All the apostles testify as witnesses to the fact that the tomb was empty and that Jesus appeared to His disciples as He said. The book of Acts records the proclamation of the resurrection of Christ as its central fact. The New Testament epistles and the book of Revelation are meaningless unless Christ did indeed rise from the dead. The resurrection of Christ has been and always be the central tenet of the church. It is one of the most fundamental doctrines to the Christian faith. As W. Robertson Nicoll states: “The empty tomb of Christ has been the cradle of the church.” From her infancy, the church has not only believed in the resurrection of Christ, but that her whole existence is totally dependent upon it. Without faith in the resurrection of Christ there would be no Christianity at all. Christianity stands or falls with the truth of the resurrection. If you can disprove the resurrection of Christ, then you have destroyed Christianity. Christianity is based upon the historical fact of the resurrection of Christ. It is based upon facts and these facts are verified by eyewitnesses that testify as to it taking place. The resurrection of Christ is either the greatest miracle of history or the greatest delusion which history records. The resurrection of Christ is the doctrine that turned the world upside down in the first century that lifted Christianity above Judaism and the pagan religions of the Mediterranean world. The resurrection of Christ is of critical, practical importance because it completes our salvation.

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If Christ has not risen, then we are not justified before God for Christ has been raised for our justification according to Romans 4:25. If Christ has not risen, then we will not rise from the dead according to Romans 8:11, and if we will not rise from the dead, then we have no hope. The resurrection sharply distinguishes Jesus of Nazareth from all other religious founders. The bones of Abraham and Muhammad and Buddha and Confucius and Lao-Tzu and Zoraster are still here on earth. The tomb of Jesus is empty. How else can we account for the transformation of the apostles? Before the disciples were a frightened lot, who for the exception of John were not even there at the cross when our Lord was crucified. They denied ever knowing Him as in the case of Peter according to Matthew 26:69-75. They were huddled behind lock doors in fear and confusion according to John 20:19. But after the resurrection, they were transformed…they were courageous, and willing to give their lives for the Man from Nazareth according to Acts 4:1-13 and many other passages. After the resurrection, the apostles were confident, embarking on massive missionary projects, evangelizing the entire Roman Empire. What could account for this transformation? Simply, it was the resurrection of Christ. Something happened to them that so utterly effected their innermost being. They became courageous martyrs, rejoicing as ambassadors for Christ. They were not afraid of death. Why? Simply, the resurrection of Christ. You might say well many individuals have died for their religion such as the Muslims. When a member of Islam dies for his religion it is in vain whereas when the Christian dies for the sake of Jesus Christ it is not in vain. Why? Simply the Christian dies for someone, namely Jesus Christ who rose from the dead. The member of Islam cannot make that claim. The difference between a member of Islam dying for his religion and the Christian dying for his, is that the Christian’s faith is based upon an historical Person, Jesus Christ, who died and has risen from the dead whereas the member of Islam cannot make that claim. The Christian dies for that which he knows to be true and what he knows to be true is based upon factual historical evidence…the same cannot be said of those who belong to the Islamic faith or any other religion on the face of the earth. The Founder of Christianity has been raised from the dead…the same cannot be said for the founder of Islam or any religion on the face of the earth. The resurrection of Christ lends credibility to the Christian’s faith in Jesus. Christianity, whose basis is that of the resurrection of Christ, is not a blind faith, but rather it is a faith based upon verifiable factual evidence and witnesses. What are the consequences of such an even in history? It is the concrete, factual, empirical proof that life has hope and meaning. With the resurrection of

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Christ, God defeated through His Son our greatest enemies as human beings: death! The Lord Jesus Christ has three credentials: (1) Impact of His life through His miracles and teachings upon history (2) Fulfilled prophecy in His life (3) His resurrection. The Lord Jesus Christ Himself during His ministry pointed to the sign of His resurrection as His single most important credential. He boldly declared even to His enemies that He would rise from the dead. He said something only a fool would dare say. No founder of any world religion known to men ever dared say a thing like that! But Jesus did! Christ predicted His resurrection in an unmistakable and straightforward manner. His disciples didn’t understand the fact that He had to suffer and rise again, but His enemies, the Jews took His assertions quite seriously (Mt. 27:62- 66). Think about this for a minute regarding Jesus’ claims of rising from the dead. If you or I should say to any group of friends that we expected to die, either by violence or naturally, at a certain time, but that, three days after death, we would rise again, we would be quietly taken away by friends, and confined to an institution until we got our act together. You would have to be a fool to make the claims that Jesus made unless you knew without a doubt that this was going to take place. Only someone who was the Son of God could know these things about Himself and make the claims that Jesus made! Paul said that the resurrection demonstrated to all that Jesus Christ was indeed who He claimed to be, the incarnate Son of God (Rm. 1:1-4). Jesus never predicted His death without adding that He would rise again. Look at the list of Scriptures in which Jesus predicted His resurrection: Matthew 12:38- 40; 16:21; 17:9, 22-23; 20:18-19; 26:32; 27:63; Mark 8:31-9:1; 9:10, 31; 10:32-34; 14:28, 58; Luke 9:22-27; John 2:18-22; 12:34; chapters 14-16. Jesus not only predicted His resurrection but also emphasized that His rising from the dead would be the “ sign ” to authenticate his claims as being the Messiah (Jn. 2:13-22). You must always remember that the fact of the resurrection of Christ is a historical matter. The meaning of the resurrection of Christ is a theological matter. The resurrection of Christ is an event in history. The nature of the resurrection body of Christ might be a mystery but the fact that the body disappeared from the tomb is a matter to be decided upon by historical evidence. Here are the basic facts surrounding Christ’s death and resurrection: (1) Jesus was a Jew crucified by the Romans in the 1st century. (2) There is a vast mass of

2008 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 31 literature that tells us that Jesus was a historical person. (3) He was condemned by the Jewish Sanhedrin who then handed Him over to be executed by the Romans. (4) Pontius Pilate passed the death sentence. (5) Jesus died at 3pm in the afternoon at the Jewish Passover, the 14th day of the Jewish month of Nisan (April). (6) The body of Jesus was placed in a tomb near the crucifixion site, which was owned by a friend of Jesus. (7) The Romans soldiers verified that Jesus was dead by thrusting a spear into Jesus side, which pierced His heart, which released blood and water from the heart. (8) The Jews requested of Pilate that he seal the tomb and place a guard over it to prevent the disciples of Jesus from taking the body. (9) The place where Christ’s body was laid is a specific geographical location near Jerusalem. (10) The man who owned the tomb was a man living in the 1st half of the 1st century. (11) Jesus was buried according to the Jewish custom of burying dead bodies. (12) The tomb was composed of rock in a hillside near Jerusalem. (13) There are many witnesses who claim to have seen Jesus on the 3rd day after His death. (14) The disciples went out and proclaimed that Jesus had risen. (15) The disciples were men among men, they were historical individuals. (16) The tomb of Jesus was sealed with a large bolder. (17) The disciples of Jesus were not expecting His resurrection. (18) The enemies of Jesus understood His claims that He would rise again therefore they placed a seal on the tomb and assigned a Roman Guard to prevent the body of Jesus from leaving the tomb. (19) The tomb of Jesus was empty on the 3rd Day after His death. (20) The Seal on the tomb was broken and rolled away from the tomb of Jesus. (21) Grave clothes of Jesus were found undisturbed in the tomb by His disciples. (22) The enemies of Christ could not produce the body of Jesus in order to refute the claims of Jesus’ disciples that He rose from the dead. (23) The Jewish Sanhedrin bribed the Roman soldiers to say that the disciples of Jesus stole the body. In Acts 1:3, Luke tells us that Jesus showed Himself alive by many infallible proofs ( en pollois tekmeriois ). This is an expression in the Greek, which indicates the strongest type of legal evidence. The Greek word for “ proofs ” is the noun tekmerion . It is a hapax legomenon in the NT meaning it appears only once in the NT, namely, Acts 1:3. It is found in secular Greek from Herodotus to the 2 nd century A.D. Tekmerion refers to “that which causes something to be known as verified or confirmed.” The word indicates “something that is surely and plainly known, indisputable evidence, a proof.” So what Luke is telling Theopholis is that the resurrection of Christ “was surely and plainly known, and that there is indisputable evidence that supports that this event took place.” Therefore, the resurrection of Christ is an event within history. At no point within the New Testament is there any evidence that the Christians stood for an original philosophy of life or an original ethic. Their sole function was

2008 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 32 to bear witness to what they claimed to have taken place, namely, the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Consider this: Have you noticed that in the book of Acts there is an enormous amount of emphasis upon the resurrection of Christ but not a single reference to an empty tomb. The Gospels record that fact. Now, why is there no mention of an empty tomb when the apostles evangelized in the book of Acts? Simply this: There was no point in arguing about the empty tomb. Everyone, friend and foe alike knew that it was empty. The only questions worth arguing about were why it was empty and what its emptiness proved. In Acts 2, did you notice that there was no refutation given by the Jews to Peter’s bold proclamation that Jesus had risen from the dead. Why not? They knew the tomb was empty and they could not deny this fact. Now remember this: The empty tomb does not prove the resurrection, but it does present two distinct alternatives: (1) The empty tomb was either an act of divine power or a human one. (2) There really is only 1 to choose from. The enemies of Jesus had no motive for removing the body. The friends of Jesus had not power to do so. It would have been to the advantage of the authorities that the body should remain where it was. The view that the apostles stole the body is impossible. Therefore, the power that removed the body of the Savior from the tomb must have been divine! Thomas Arnold, was for 14 years the famous headmaster of Rugby, author of the famous 3-volume History of Rome, appointed to the chair of modern history at Oxford, and one well acquainted with the value of evidence in determining historical facts, states the following: “The evidence for our Lord’s life and death and resurrection may be, and often has been, shown to be satisfactory; it is good according to the common rules for distinguishing good evidence from bad. Thousands and tens of thousands of persons have gone through it piece by piece, as carefully as every judge summing up on a most important cause. I have myself done it many times over, not persuade others but to satisfy myself. I have been used for many years to study the histories of other times, and to examine and weigh the evidence of those who have written about them, and I know of no one fact in the history of mankind which is proved by better and fuller evidence of every sort, to the understanding of a fair inquirer, than the great sign which God hath given us that Christ died and rose again from the dead” (The New Evidence That Demands A Verdict, page 217). Former Chief Justice of England, Lord Darling states: “we, as Christians, are asked to take a very great deal on trust; the teachings, for example, and the miracles of Jesus. If we had to take all on trust, I, for one, should be skeptical. The crux of the problem of whether Jesus was, or was not, what He proclaimed Himself to be, must surely depend upon the truth or otherwise of the resurrection. On that

2008 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 33 greatest point we are not merely asked to have faith. In its favor as living truth there exists such overwhelming evidence, positive and negative, factual and circumstantial, that no intelligent jury in the world could fail to bring in a verdict that the resurrection story is true.” So picture yourself a member of a jury, preparing to decide one of the oldest cases in the history of jurisprudence: The People vs. Jesus of Nazareth. The case has to do with the claims of Jesus of Nazareth that He died and rose from the dead. The people have been prosecuting this case based upon one of three theories: The “Swoon theory” contends that Jesus did not actually die on the cross but was in such a state of exhaustion due to loss of strength and blood that he “swooned” into a coma. In that coma-like state, they contend that he was believed to be dead but when placed in the dampness of the tomb, He was revived and then somehow pushed the stone away and slipped out into the night, unnoticed by anyone. He then appeared to His followers, claiming to have been raised miraculously when actually He had fallen into a coma. The “Kidnap theory” contends that Jesus did actually die but in the middle of the night someone came and took His body. While unseen by the soldiers who were guarding the tomb, this alleged kidnapper or kidnappers broke the Roman seal and pushed the stone back and stole the body and hid it where it would never be found. The disciples they allege claimed that Jesus was raised because the tomb was empty, when all along, His body was kidnapped. The “Hallucination theory” contends that the disciples of Jesus were “hallucinating” that they saw Jesus raised from the dead and were actually seeing an apparition or a ghost. In other words, this theory states that the claims of Jesus’ disciples that He was raised were simply a figment of their imaginations. These three theories are the prosecution’s case but now its time to hear the defense. The attorneys for the defense are Matthew (Matthew 27:50), Mark (Mark 15:37), Luke (Luke 23:46) and John (John 19:30), the four gospel writers who offer eyewitness testimony that Jesus did in fact died physically. Their case contends that Jesus did actually die and did not swoon or was kidnapped and that they were not hallucinating when they saw Jesus three days after His death. Now, some would say the testimony of these men were biased so the defense calls to the stand the centurion, the Roman soldier in charge of the squad that crucified Jesus of Nazareth. Mark 15:39, “When the centurion, who was standing right in front of Him, saw the way He breathed His last, he said, ‘Truly this man was the Son of God!’” Let’s call to the witness stand the other soldiers in the crucifixion detail.

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John 19:31-35, “Then the Jews, because it was the day of preparation, so that the bodies would not remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a high day), asked Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away. So the soldiers came, and broke the legs of the first man and of the other who was crucified with Him; but coming to Jesus, when they saw that He was already dead , they did not break His legs. But one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out . And he who has seen has testified, and his testimony is true; and he knows that he is telling the truth, so that you also may believe .” Let’s now call to the witness stand those who belonged to the burial party of Jesus of Nazareth. John 19:38-40, “After these things Joseph of Arimathea, being a disciple of Jesus, but a secret {one} for fear of the Jews, asked Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus; and Pilate granted permission. So he came and took away His body. Nicodemus, who had first come to Him by night, also came, bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred pounds {weight}. So they took the body of Jesus and bound it in linen wrappings with the spices, as is the burial custom of the Jews.” The body of Jesus was wrapped in eight-inch to one-foot-width strips of linen that were wrapped tightly by the gummy consistency of the spices. During the wrapping, the spices were pushed into the folds so that ultimately the body was encased in a hardened wrapping of linen, from the shoulders to the ankles. The head was wrapped in a face cloth that was wrapped about the top of the head and tied under the jaw to keep the jaw from sagging. This preparation of the body in this manner would have left the appearance of Jesus’ body looking like an Egyptian mummy. These men who prepared the body of Jesus would never have wrapped the burial clothes around Jesus and laid Him in the tomb if there was the slightest sign of life in Him. Therefore, as a jury member, you have heard the eyewitness testimony as to the death of Jesus, which refutes the so-called “Swoon Theory.” Now, with the death of Jesus of Nazareth firmly established, we come to the cornerstone of the defense’s case: the resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth. John 19:41-42, “Now in the place where He was crucified there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb in which no one had yet been laid. Therefore because of the Jewish day of preparation, since the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there.” The tomb was a cave, one of many that pockmarked the area around Jerusalem. A large one ton stone, circular in shape, was rolled in front of the entrance to the tomb and was set into an inclined groove leading down to the mouth of this opening. The stone was held in place, away from the opening by a wedge at the

2008 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 35 bottom and when the burial preparations were completed, the wedge was removed, allowing the pull of gravity to roll the stone into place, sealing the opening of the cave, which kept the body safe from would be robbers or wild animals. In the burial of Jesus, extra precaution was taken because of the insistence of the chief priests and the Pharisees. The Romans placed a seal on the tomb and posted a guard to insure that no fanatical follower of Jesus would try to steal the body. The enemies of Jesus did not want an empty tomb since that would verify Jesus’ promise that He would rise from the dead. In this regard, let’s call Mary Magdalene to the witness stand who is another eyewitness. John 20:1, “Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene came early to the tomb, while it was still dark, and saw the stone already taken away from the tomb.” The displaced stone and broken seal is the first piece of historical evidence for the resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth, which brings us to the second piece of evidence for the resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth, namely the empty tomb. John 20:2-9, “So she ran and came to Simon Peter and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and said to them, ‘They have taken away the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid Him.’ So Peter and the other disciple went forth, and they were going to the tomb. The two were running together; and the other disciple ran ahead faster than Peter and came to the tomb first and stooping and looking in, he saw the linen wrappings lying there; but he did not go in. And so Simon Peter also came, following him, and entered the tomb; and he saw the linen wrappings lying there and the face- cloth which had been on His head, not lying with the linen wrappings, but rolled up in a place by itself. So the other disciple who had first come to the tomb then also entered, and he saw and believed. For as yet they did not understand the Scripture, that He must rise again from the dead.” Now, the prosecution would jump up and state that Mary stated that she thought someone took the body away, which leads us to three possible alternatives in answering the question as to why the tomb was empty. The first possibility is that Jesus was really alive and got out of the tomb under His own strength but this would have been a physical impossibility for a man to roll back the one ton stone from inside the cave, especially for a man who had just suffered through a crucifixion. The second possibility is that Jesus was dead, and somebody took the body and hid it somewhere. There are only two groups of individuals who could have moved the body, namely, Jesus’ friends or His enemies. The last thing the enemies of Jesus wanted was for His body to leave the tomb and in fact, all their efforts with

2008 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 36 the extra security precautions around the tomb give every indication that they did not want to remove the body from the tomb. Also, if the enemies of Jesus removed the body then why didn’t they produce the body when the disciples of Jesus proclaimed He had risen from the dead. So if the enemies of Jesus did not take His body then that leaves only one alternative, His disciples, which is exactly what the Pharisees claimed but the disciples of Jesus, were terrified of the Jewish and Roman authorities. In fact, the only apostle that was at the crucifixion was John, Peter had denied three times of ever knowing the Lord, thus, the disciples could never have overpowered the Roman soldiers and took the body of Jesus Christ from the tomb. Matthew 28:2-15, “And behold, a severe earthquake had occurred, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled away the stone and sat upon it. And his appearance was like lightning, and his clothing as white as snow. The guards shook for fear of him and became like dead men. The angel said to the women, ‘Do not be afraid; for I know that you are looking for Jesus who has been crucified.’ He is not here, for He has risen, just as He said. Come, see the place where He was lying. Go quickly and tell His disciples that He has risen from the dead; and behold, He is going ahead of you into Galilee, there you will see Him; behold, I have told you. And they left the tomb quickly with fear and great joy and ran to report it to His disciples. Now while they were on their way, some of the guard came into the city and reported to the chief priests all that had happened. And when they had assembled with the elders and consulted together, they gave a large sum of money to the soldiers, and said, ‘You are to say, ‘His disciples came by night and stole Him away while we were asleep.’ And if this should come to the governor's ears, we will win him over and keep you out of trouble. And they took the money and did as they had been instructed; and this story was widely spread among the Jews, and is to this day.” So we see that the second theory that the disciples of Jesus took the body was a story falsified by Jesus’ enemies. Now, we come to exhibit three, namely, the grave clothes, the most tangible, material evidence. John 20:3-8, “So Peter and the other disciple went forth, and they were going to the tomb. The two were running together; and the other disciple ran ahead faster than Peter and came to the tomb first and stooping and looking in, he saw the linen wrappings lying there; but he did not go in. And so Simon Peter also came, following him, and entered the tomb; and he saw the linen wrappings lying there and the face-cloth which had been on His head, not lying with the linen wrappings, but rolled up in a place by itself. So the other disciple who had first come to the tomb then also entered, and he saw and believed.”

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The first “ saw ” in verse five is the Greek verb blepo , which denotes a casual glance whereas the next “ saw ” in verse six is the verb theoreo , which indicates a careful observation of details. What Peter observed carefully was that the grave clothes, the hardened mummy-like wrappings were still intact. This gave the appearance that a body was still within the wrappings, revealing the contour of Jesus’ body, but they were like a hollow cocoon and the head cloth was shaped as though still wrapped around a head, but there was no head. The third “ saw ” in verse eight is the verb eidon , which means that John had come to an understanding that Jesus had risen from the dead as the result of perceiving the grave clothes. Now to solidify the case of the defense we have over five hundred eyewitnesses who state that they saw Jesus alive after His death including the apostles. 1 Corinthians 15:3-8, “For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. After that He appeared to more than five hundred brethren at one time, most of whom remain until now, but some have fallen asleep; then He appeared to James, then to all the apostles; and last of all, as to one untimely born, He appeared to me also.” The fact that over five hundred people claimed to have seen Jesus of Nazareth raised from the dead destroys the “hallucination” argument presented in this case since it is highly unlikely that all these people could have been hallucinating. Not only do we have the testimony of eyewitnesses recorded in the Word of God but also the testimony of changed and transformed lives of innumerable individuals throughout the centuries, up to this very day, both men and women, of all races and backgrounds. Therefore, since you have heard the eyewitness testimony and the presentation of evidence, what is your verdict? If you are an unbeliever, your response to the testimony of the witnesses and evidence for the resurrection of Jesus Christ should be one of faith in Jesus Christ (John 3:16-18; Acts 16:30-31). If you are already a believer, your response to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ should be one of obedience and total commitment to Him (Mark 12:30). In Romans 6:5, the noun anastasis functions as an “objective genitive” meaning that it functions semantically as the direct object of the verbal idea implicit in the noun homoioma , which is indicated in that homoioma can be converted into the verbal form “conformed” and anastasis into its direct object. The definite article preceding the noun anastasis is used with the personal pronoun autos , “ His ” to denote possession indicating that this resurrection “belong to” Christ.

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We will translate autos , “ His ” and anastasis , “ resurrection .” Completed corrected translation of Romans 6:5: “ Therefore, if and let us assume that it is true for the sake of argument that we are entered into union with Him, conformed to His physical death. Of course, we believed this is true. Then, certainly, we will also be united with Him, conformed to His resurrection. ” In this passage, Paul is referring to the third and final stage of the justified sinner’s sanctification, which is “ultimate” sanctification. Ultimate sanctification is the perfection of the church age believer’s spiritual life at the Rapture, i.e. resurrection of the church, which is the completion of the plan of God for the church age believer (1 Cor. 15:53-54; Gal. 6:8; 1 Pet. 5:10; John 6:40). Ultimate sanctification is the promise of resurrection body and will be experienced by every believer regardless of their response in time to what God has done for them at the moment of salvation. It occurs at the Rapture of the church when the believer receives their resurrection body. The term “Rapture” is not a Bible word meaning that it is not found in the Greek New Testament and is taken from the Latin term rapio , “caught up.” The Rapture is a technical theological term for the resurrection of the church, which is imminent, invisible to the world, terminates the church age dispensation. It will take place in the earth’s atmosphere when the Lord Jesus Christ will suddenly and forcefully remove the church from planet earth in order to deliver her from the Tribulation period. 1 Thessalonians 4:13-17, “But we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve as do the rest who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus. For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words.” The phrase “ will be caught up ” is the Greek verb harpazo ( a%rpazw ), “to snatch or take something away forcefully in such a way that no resistance is offered, to grab or seize by force with the purpose of removing and/or controlling” The verb harpazo in 1 Thessalonians 4:17 refers to the Lord Jesus Christ taking His Church forcefully and suddenly out of the world by means of His divine omnipotence. 1 Thessalonians 4:18, “Therefore comfort one another with these words.”

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It would not be an encouragement for the church if it had to go through the Tribulation period. The Rapture delivers the church from the wrath to come, which is the worst period in all of human history, the Great Tribulation. 1 Thessalonians 1:10, “and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, {that is} Jesus, who rescues us from the wrath to come.” 1 Thessalonians 5:9, “For God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.” The rapture is something we the church, the body of Christ, and the future bride of Christ should be eagerly anticipating because we will receive our resurrection bodies at that time. Philippians 3:20-21, “For our citizenship exists from eternity past in the realm of the heavens, out from which also we ourselves at the present time are eagerly anticipating as Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. Who will cause our humiliating body to be outwardly transformed to be identical in essence with His glorious body because of the power that will enable Him to marshal all things created to Himself.” The Rapture is distinguished from the Second Advent of Christ. Therefore, ultimate sanctification for the believer takes place when the Lord Jesus Christ returns to deliver the church at the Rapture. It is as this time that members of the body of Christ, the church will receive their resurrection bodies. The same three categories of divine omnipotence that the raised the humanity of Christ from dead will raise the church age believer at the rapture: (1) Omnipotence of God The Father sent back our Lord’s human spirit to the body in the grave (Acts 2:24; Rom. 6:4; Eph. 1:20; Col. 2:12; 1 Thess. 1:10; 1 Pet. 1:21). (2) Omnipotence of God the Holy Spirit sent back our Lord’s human soul to the body in the grave (Rom. 1:4; 8:11; 1 Pet. 3:18). (3) Omnipotence of God the Son raised His physical body from the grave (John 6:39-40, 54 10:17-18). The resurrection or rapture of the church was a mystery that was not known to Old Testament saints. 1 Corinthians 15:50-58, “Now I say this, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Behold, I tell you a mystery; we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For this perishable must put on the imperishable, and this mortal must put on immortality. But when this perishable will have put on the imperishable, and this mortal will have put on immortality, then will come about the saying that is written, ‘DEATH IS SWALLOWED UP in victory.’ ‘O DEATH, WHERE IS YOUR VICTORY? O DEATH, WHERE IS YOUR

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STING?’ The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law; but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord.” Only one resurrection has taken place in human history-the humanity of our Lord Jesus Christ. He was the first fruits in resurrection (1 Cor. 15:23). 1 Corinthians 15:22-23, “For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, after that those who are Christ's at His coming.” The next group of people to resurrected from the dead is the church at the Rapture-Bravo Company. Everyone else who was raised from the dead in the OT and in the NT was resuscitated and not resurrected. Order of Resurrections: (1) Alpha Company: The humanity of Christ (Matt. 28; Mark 16:1-14; Luke 24:1-12; John 20:1-9). (2) Bravo Company: The Church (1 Cor. 15:51-58; 1 Thess. 4:13-18). (3) Charlie Company: Old Testament believers and Tribulation martyrs (Dan. 12:2-3; Matt. 24:31; Rev. 20:4). (4) Delta Company: Millennial believers. (5) Unbelievers: The Great White Throne Judgment of unbelievers at the end of human history (Rev. 20:11-15). The Lord Jesus Christ in His Upper Room Discourse first spoke of the Rapture or resurrection of the church where He laid the groundwork for the dispensation of the church age. John 14:1-3, “Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father's house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, {there} you may be also.” Notice the Lord says that He will “ receive us to Himself .” Compare it with this passage in 2nd Thessalonians, which deals extensively with the rapture. 2 Thessalonians 2:1, “Now we request you, brethren, with regard to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him.” Ultimate sanctification will be the experience of all believers whether they are faithful or not. We will have a resurrection body like our Lord’s (1 John 3:2). 1 John 3:2, “Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is.” The resurrection of the Church is the completion of the Body of Christ, thus transforming the body of Christ into the Bride of Christ. Revelation 19:1-10, “After these things I heard something like a loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, saying, ‘Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God; BECAUSE HIS JUDGMENTS ARE TRUE AND

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RIGHTEOUS; for He has judged the great harlot who was corrupting the earth with her immorality, and HE HAS AVENGED THE BLOOD OF HIS BOND-SERVANTS ON HER.’ And a second time they said, ‘Hallelujah! HER SMOKE RISES UP FOREVER AND EVER.’ And the twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God who sits on the throne saying, ‘Amen. Hallelujah!’ And a voice came from the throne, saying, ‘Give praise to our God, all you His bond-servants, you who fear Him, the small and the great.’ Then I heard something like the voice of a great multitude and like the sound of many waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, saying, ‘Hallelujah! For the Lord our God, the Almighty, reigns. Let us rejoice and be glad and give the glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come and His bride has made herself ready.’ It was given to her to clothe herself in fine linen, bright and clean; for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. Then he said to me, ‘Write, ‘Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.’ And he said to me, ‘These are true words of God.’ Then I fell at his feet to worship him. But he said to me, ‘Do not do that; I am a fellow servant of yours and your brethren who hold the testimony of Jesus; worship God. For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.’” The same power that raised the humanity of Christ from the dead will raise every Church Age believer from the dead at the Rapture (Rom. 8:11). Romans 8:11, “But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.” The resurrection body will be composed of flesh and bone and will not have blood as the physical body now has. It will have a different molecular structure which will enable it to walk through walls as our Lord did in John 20:19. John 20:19, “So when it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and when the doors were shut where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst and said to them, ‘Peace be with you.’” It will be able to leave the earth vertically as our Lord did in Acts 1:9. Acts 1:9, “And after He had said these things, He was lifted up while they were looking on, and a cloud received Him out of their sight.” It will be able to travel through space in an instant and appear in heaven. The believer will still be able to eat and drink in a resurrection body (Luke 24:42-43). Luke 24:42-43, “They gave Him a piece of a broiled fish; and He took it and ate it before them.” The resurrection body will never get tired or sick and will minus the old sin nature. It will be a spiritual body with flesh and bones (1 Cor. 15:35-50).

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1 Corinthians 15:35-49, “But someone will say, ‘How are the dead raised? And with what kind of body do they come?’ You fool! That which you sow does not come to life unless it dies; and that which you sow, you do not sow the body which is to be, but a bare grain, perhaps of wheat or of something else. But God gives it a body just as He wished, and to each of the seeds a body of its own. All flesh is not the same flesh, but there is one flesh of men, and another flesh of beasts, and another flesh of birds, and another of fish. There are also heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, but the glory of the heavenly is one, and the glory of the earthly is another. There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for star differs from star in glory. So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown a perishable body, it is raised an imperishable body; it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. So also it is written, ‘The first MAN, Adam, BECAME A LIVING SOUL.’ The last Adam became a life-giving spirit. However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural; then the spiritual. The first man is from the earth, earthy; the second man is from heaven. As is the earthy, so also are those who are earthy; and as is the heavenly, so also are those who are heavenly. Just as we have borne the image of the earthy, we will also bear the image of the heavenly.” The rapture is the “ blessed hope ” of the church since it delivers her from the wrath that is to come upon a Christ rejecting world during the Tribulation period, which will be the worst period in all of human history and immediately follows the rapture. Titus 2:13, “looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus.” The Lord Jesus Christ in His Upper Room Discourse first speaks of the rapture. John 14:1-3, Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father's house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, {there} you may be also.” Notice the Lord says that He will “ receive us to Himself .” Compare it with this passage in 2 Thessalonians, which deals extensively with the rapture. 2 Thessalonians 2:1, “Now we request you, brethren, with regard to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him.” The rapture of the church is distinguished in Scripture from the Second Advent of Christ. The Rapture delivers the church while the Second Advent delivers Israel. The Rapture is seen only by the church and is therefore invisible while the Second

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Advent is the visible manifestation of Christ on the earth. The Lord meets the church in the earth’s atmosphere at the Rapture, whereas the Lord physically lands on the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem at the Second Advent. Signs do not precede the Rapture whereas visible signs precede the Second Advent. The Lord claims His Bride at the Rapture but He returns with her at the Second Advent. The Rapture completes God’s program for the church while the Second Advent is related to God’s program for Israel. The Rapture is a mystery, not known to Old Testament saints whereas the Second Advent is prophesied throughout the Old Testament canon. The Rapture leaves creation unchanged whereas the Second Advent entails a change in creation. The Rapture does not fulfill God’s covenants to Israel whereas the Second Advent marks the beginning of their fulfillment. The Rapture precedes the Tribulation whereas the Second Advent follows it. The Rapture is “imminent” meaning that it could happen at any time and is the next prophetic event. It triggers the “day of the Lord,” which is “not” a literal twenty-four period but rather is an extended period of time beginning with God’s dealing with Israel after the rapture at the beginning of the tribulation period. It extends through the Second Advent and the millennial age unto the creation of the new heavens and the new earth after the millennium. In 1 Thessalonians 5:2, Paul teaches that the “ day of the Lord ” will break unexpectedly upon the world. 1 Thessalonians 5:2, “For you yourselves know full well that the day of the Lord will come just like a thief in the night.” If the Day of the Lord did not begin until the Second Advent, since that event is preceded by signs, the Day of the Lord could “not” come as a “ thief in the night ,” unexpected, and unheralded, as it is said it will come in 1 Thessalonians 5:2. The only way this day could break unexpectedly upon the world is to have it begin immediately after the rapture of the church, which is imminent. When an event is truly imminent, we never know exactly when it will happen. Dr. Gerald B. Stanton, a professor of Bible at Biola College for many years, and writer of several prophecy books, states the following: “Immanency consists of three things: the certainty that He may come at any moment, the uncertainty of the time of that arrival, and the fact that no prophesied event stands between the believer and that hour. The purpose of such immanency is that the Church may be in a constant state of expectancy, always looking for and waiting for the coming of her Lord from heaven. Not only is the hope of His return a source of comfort and encouragement to the believer, but also it is a very definite incentive for service and for holy living.” This is what John is saying in 1 John 3:2-3.

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1 John 3:2-3, “Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is and everyone who has this hope fixed on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.” In Philippians 3:21, Paul teaches the Philippians that the Lord Jesus Christ will transform the believer’s humiliating into conformity with His glorious resurrection body. Philippians 3:20-21, “For our citizenship exists from eternity past in the realm of the heavens, out from which also we ourselves at the present time are eagerly anticipating as Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. Who will cause our humiliating body to be outwardly transformed to be identical in essence with His glorious body because of the power that will enable Him to marshal all things created to Himself .” In Philippians 3:21, the expression “ to be outwardly transformed ” is the third person future active indicative form of the compound verb metaschematizo (metasxhmativzw ). The word refers to the Lord Jesus Christ causing the church age believer’s physical body to be transformed in outward appearance into a resurrected body at the rapture of the church. Webster’s New Universal Unabridged Dictionary defines the verb transform: (1) To change in form, appearance, or structure, metamorphose (2) To change in condition, nature, or character; convert (3) To change into another substance; transmute. If we were to paraphrase this definition, we would say that the church age believer’s physical body: (1) Will change in form, appearance, or structure, metamorphose at the rapture or resurrection of the church. (2) Will change in condition, nature, character; convert at the rapture or resurrection of the church. (3) Will change into another substance; transmute at the rapture or resurrection of the church. The predictive future indicates that the believer will have his physical body transformed into a resurrection body that is patterned after the resurrection body of the Lord Jesus Christ’s resurrection body. This is a causative active voice where the Lord Jesus Christ as the subject is the cause or ultimate source of the transformation of the believer’s physical body into a resurrection body. “Humiliating ” is the genitive feminine singular form of the noun tapeinosis (tapeivnwsi$ ), which describes the believer’s physical body, which is mortal. It refers to the state of humiliation that the believer experiences in his mortal body because it contains the old sin nature as a result of Adam’s original sin in the garden (R. 5:12; cf. 7).

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The physical body of the believer is humiliating in comparison to the resurrection body. It is being corrupted as a result of the old sin nature (Eph. 4:22) and is subjected to death (1 C. 15:42-44). It is thus mortal whereas the resurrection body is immortal. The mortal body of the believer is governed by the old Adamic- nature whereas the resurrection body is governed by the new Christ-nature. Christ crucified the old Adamic-nature at the cross (R. 6:6). It tempts the soul to commit mental, verbal and overt acts of personal sin and produces evil (Col. 3:9). The mortal body of the believer is in bondage to the sin nature (R. 7:14). Its actions cannot please God and wars against the Spirit (R. 8:3; cf. Ga. 5:18-21). Philippians 3:20-21, “For our citizenship exists from eternity past in the realm of the heavens, out from which also we ourselves at the present time are eagerly anticipating as Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. Who will cause our humiliating body to be outwardly transformed to be identical in essence with His glorious body because of the power that will enable Him to marshal all things created to Himself .” “To be identical in essence ” is the accusative neuter singular form of the adjective summorphos ( suVmmorfo$ ), which is employed in an eschatological sense referring to the rapture when the believer will receive a resurrection body that will have the same identical essence as the resurrection body of the Lord Jesus Christ. This compound adjective is composed of the preposition sun , “with, together with,” and the noun morphe , “essence.” Literally it means “having the same essence of nature,” or “identical in essence or nature.” The believer’s resurrection body will not only look like the resurrection body of the Lord Jesus Christ but it will be in essence, identical to His, composed of flesh, bone and spirit and no blood because it will be minus the old sin nature. It will be composed of the same molecular structure and will function in the same manner as the resurrection body of Christ, which He first modeled after His resurrection. The resurrected body of the Lord Jesus Christ serves as the model for the resurrected body of the believer. Every church age believer will receive a resurrection body at the rapture of the church (1 John 3:2). The omnipotence of the Lord Jesus Christ will be responsible for the believer’s new resurrection body according to Philippians 3:21. The believer’s physical body is a body of humiliation compared to the resurrection body which is called the “body of His glory” (Phil. 3:21). The resurrection body will be composed of flesh and bones and will not have blood as the physical body now has (Lk. 24:39), but will be composed of flesh, bones and spirit. The resurrection body will have a different molecular structure which will enable it to walk through walls as our Lord did in John 20:19. It will be able to leave the earth vertically as our Lord did in Acts 1:9. It will be able to travel through space in an instant and appear in heaven. The believer will still be able to

2008 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 46 eat and drink in a resurrection body (Luke 24:42-43). The resurrection body will never get tired or sick and will minus the old sin nature. It will be a spiritual body with flesh and bones (1 Cor. 15:35-50). It will be an imperishable body and not like the one believer’s now have (1 Cor. 15:52). The resurrection body will be immortal (1 Cor. 15:53). The believer’s resurrection body is a result of our Lord’s victory over death at the Cross (1 Cor. 15:57). Our Lord delivered us from the fear of death (Heb. 2:14- 15). The believer in a resurrection body will no longer be able to sin because it will be minus the old sin nature which tempts the believer to commit acts of sin-mental, verbal and overt. The resurrection body will be an eternal monument to the grace policy of God. All church age believers will receive a resurrection body regardless of whether or not they were a winner in time. The only requirement for receiving a resurrection body is believing on the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation. Faith alone in Christ alone is the means of receiving a resurrection body. It only takes one non- meritorious decision to receive a resurrection body. Paul uses the Stellar Universe analogy to illustrate the fact that there will be varieties of resurrection bodies in heaven (1 Cor. 15:40-41). The resurrection body will be totally governed by the Spirit, made alive and sustained by the eternal living power of the Spirit. The resurrection body of the believer will have the same identical attributes and properties that the resurrection body of Christ has. Philippians 3:20-21, “For our citizenship exists from eternity past in the realm of the heavens, out from which also we ourselves at the present time are eagerly anticipating as Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. Who will cause our humiliating body to be outwardly transformed to be identical in essence with His glorious body because of the power that will enable Him to marshal all things created to Himself .” “The power ” is the accusative feminine singular form of the noun energeian (e)ne/rgeian ), which refers to the divine omnipotence of God the Son. The humiliating body of the believer will be outwardly transformed to be identical in essence to the glorified resurrected body of Christ at the rapture of the church. The same three categories of divine omnipotence that the raised the humanity of Christ from dead will raise the church age believer at the rapture: (1) Omnipotence of God the Father sent back our Lord’s human spirit to the body in the grave (Acts 2:24; Rom. 6:4; Eph. 1:20; Col. 2:12; 1 Thess. 1:10; 1 Pet. 1:21). (2) Omnipotence of God the Holy Spirit sent back our Lord’s human soul to the body in the grave (Rom. 1:4; 8:11; 1 Pet. 3:18). (3) Omnipotence of God the Son raised His physical body from the grave (John 6:39-40, 54; 10:17-18).

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In context, Paul is referring to the omnipotence of God the Son since he is discussing the resurrection body.

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Romans 6:6a-The Believer’s Old Adamic Sin Nature Was Crucified with Christ

Romans 6:6a teaches that the believer’s old Adamic sin nature was crucified with Christ on the Cross. Romans 6:1-7, “What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase? May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it? Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? 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. 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. 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, 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 for he who has died is freed from sin.” “Knowing ” is the nominative first person plural masculine plural present active participle form of the verb ginosko ( ginwvskw ) (ghin-oce-ko). Ginosko denotes in Koine Greek the intelligent comprehension of an object or matter, whether this comes for the first time, or comes afresh, into the consideration of the one who grasps it (“to come to know, to experience, to perceive”) or whether it is already present (“to perceive”). The ingressive aspect of the act of comprehension is originally emphasized but faded into the background and the meaning can be simply “to know,” or “to understand.” The original form gignosko is found from Homer on. The shortened form ginosko was Aeolic and Ionic, but appears in common Greek from Aristotle (384- 322 B.C.) and both these words are formed from the root gno -. Ginosko and its related terms were a part of the vocabulary of religion, philosophy, and ethics, especially in the Hellenistic period. A distinct characteristic of ginosko in ancient Greek thought was that it accented to a certain extent the idea of understanding what is known in contrast to experiencing something to acquire knowledge. Ginosko means to see things as they truly are and to the Greeks knowledge attained through observation with one’s own eyes was more reliable than hearing which is less tangible. It basically means to notice, perceive, or recognize a thing, person, or situation through the senses, particularly sight.

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This leads to an intelligent ordering in the mind of what has been perceived in the world of experience. Thus the verb also means experience, learn, get to know: what has been experienced becomes known to the one who has experienced it. Liddell and Scott list the following classical meanings for the word (page 350): (1) to come to know, perceive (2) to know by reflection (3) to know by observation (4) to discern, distinguish, recognize (5) to form a judgment, think (6) to understand (7) to judge, determine, to decree that (8) to be pronounced of a sentence or a judgment (9) to be judged guilty (10) to know carnally (11) to make known, celebrate. Ernst Dieter Schmitz lists the following secular Greek meanings for the word (The New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology, volume 2, page 392): (1) to notice, perceive, or recognize a thing, person, or situation through the senses, particularly sight (Homer Odyssey 15, 532 and 24, 217). (2) to distinguish, for experience or recognition of a phenomenon among similar or different ones may lead to this (cf. Homer Iliad, 5, 128, 182). (3) to know in a personal way (Heracles Frag. 97), to understand (already in Homer Odyssey 16, 136), to know (Democ. Frag. 198; used par. with oida ), to be acquainted with, to be expert (gnostos , an expert, Plato, Republic 1, 347d), and to judge (Demosthones 658, 23). (4) to recognize as a friend, love as a friend (Xenophon Cyr. 1, 4, 27). (5) to reflect, judge, investigate by logical thought-processes. (6) to be judged. (7) to gain insight, to perceive intuitively. The Greek’s usage of the word contrasts with the Hebrew mind in the Old Testament, which placed more emphasis upon hearing since the perception of doctrine came through hearing as recorded in Deuteronomy 6:4, “ Hear, O Israel .” In the LXX, ginosko replaces 14 different Hebrew expressions as well as variations of these: (1) `amar ( rma ), to say (Jgs. 6:29) (2) bin ( wyb ), Qal: perceive, understand (Prov. 24:12; Is. 40:21); hiphil: perceive (Job. 9:11); hithpoel: understand (Jer. 30:24 [37:24]). (3) de `ah ( hud ), knowledge (Is. 11:9). (4) da `ath (jud ), knowledge (Gen. 2:176, Prov. 22:17, Is. 44:19). (5) chazah ( hzj ), see (Is. 26:11). (6) yadha ` ( udy ), Qal: know (Ex. 16:12, 2 Sm. 3:25, Jon. 1:12); niphal: be made known (Lev. 4:14, Jgs. 16:9, Ps. 48:3 [47:3] ); hiphil: make known (Hb. 3:2); hophal: made known (Lev. 4:23, 28); hithpael: make oneself known (Nm. 12:6). (7) yedha ` ( udy ), know (Dn. 2:9, 4:17 [4:14] - Aramaic); learn (Ezr. 4:15 - Aramaic). (8) ya `adh ( udy ), appoint; niphal: meet (Ex. 29:42, 30:6, Nm. 17:4). (9) ya `ats ( Juy ), advise, counsel; niphal: consult together (Is. 45:21). (10) laqach (jql ), take (1 Sm. 17:18). (11) matsa ( aXm ), find (Jgs. 14:18). (12) naghadh ( dgn ), hiphil: declare (Is. 48:6). (13) nakhar ( rbn ), Hiphil: regard (Dt. 33:9); recognize (1 Kgs. 20:41 [21:41] ). (14) ra `ah ( har ), see (Nm. 11:23, Jgs. 2:7); consider (Ex.

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33:13). (15) shama ` ( umv ), hear (Neh. 4:15, Is. 48:8). (16) takhan ( wbh ), Qal: consider (Prv. 24:12); piel: measure (Is. 40:12 [40:13] ). One term clearly predominates as the correspondent to ginosko which is yadha `, “to know.” While the Greeks were concerned with detached knowledge and a speculative interest in the metaphysical nature of things, the Old Testament regards knowledge as something which continually arises from personal encounter. Schmitz list the following meanings for ginosko in the Septuagint (LXX) (The New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology volume 2, page 395): (1) to notice, experience, observe (e.g. Gen. 3:7; 41:31; Jdg. 16:20; Eccl. 8:5; Is. 47:8; Hs. 5:3), then the observing of things like good and bad (2 Sm. 19:35 [MT 19:36]) or right and left (Jon. 4:11) leads to distinguishing between them. (2) to distinguish between (3) to know by learning (Prov. 30:3) (4) to know by observation (5) to know how to do something (1 Kg. 7:14 [LXX 7:2]; cf. Gen. 25:27; 1 Sm. 16:16, 18; Is. 47:11). (6) to concern oneself with, care for, trouble oneself with, or their negatives (e.g. Prov. 27:23; Ps. 1:6; 37:18 [LXX 36:18]; 119:79 [LXX 118:79], and to want to do with (or its negative) (e.g. Dt. 33:9). (7) to have sexual relations with (Gen. 4:1; 19:8; cf. 2:23). (8) to have a personal and confidential relationship with another person (e.g. Dt. 34:10). (9) man’s knowledge of God, i.e., of his grateful and obedient recognition. In the Greek New Testament, ginosko is quite significant in that it occurs in 20 of its 27 books a total of 222 times. It is not found in 2 Thessalonians, 1 Timothy, Titus, Philemon, 1 Peter, 3 John, and Jude. The New Testament usage presupposes the idea of “to know” in the LXX and Hebrew Old Testament. The basic sense of “to know, to understand” as an intellectual process is contained throughout the New Testament Scriptures (Matt. 6:3; 9:30; Mark 13:28; Luke 12:47; Acts 1:7; 1 Corinthians 13:9, 12 etc.). Johannes Behm lists the following New Testament meanings for the verb (Theological Dictionary of the New Testament volume 1, page 703): (1) to detect (Mk. 5:29; Lk. 8:46) (2) to note (Mk. 8:17; 12:12; Mt. 26:10; 2 Cor. 2:4; Jn. 5:42; 8:27). (3) to recognize (Lk. 7:39; Mt. 12:15; 22:18; Gal. 3:7; Jam. 2:20; Jn. 4:1; 5:6; 6:15). (4) to learn (Mk. 5:43; 15:45; Lk. 9:11; Ac. 17:13, 19; Phlp. 1:12; 2:19; Jn. 11:57; 12:9). (5) to confirm (Mk. 6:38; 13:28 f.; Lk. 1:18; 1 C. 4:19; 2 Cor. 13:6; Jn. 4:53; 7:51). (6) to know in the sense of awareness or acquaintance (Mt. 24:50 and par.; Lk. 2:43; 16:4; Hb. 10:34; Rev. 3:3; Jn. 2:24 f.; 7:27; 1 Jn. 3:20). (7) to know in the sense of acquaintance (Mt. 25:24; Lk. 12:47 f.; 16:15; Ac. 1:7; R. 2:18; 7:1; 2 C. 5:16; Jn. 1:48; 7:49). (8) to know in the sense of understanding (Lk. 18:34; Ac. 8:30; Jn. 3:10). Bauer, Gingrich and Danker list the following meanings for the word (A Greek- English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature pages 160-162): (1) know, come to know (a) with accusative of the thing (b) with

2008 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 51 personal object (c) with hoti following (2) learn (of), ascertain, find out (a) with accusative as object (b) with hoti following (c) abstract (3) understand, comprehend (a) with accusative following (b) abstractly (4) perceive, notice, realize (a) with accusative (b) with hoti following (c) euphemistically of sex relations (5) have come to know, know (a) with the accusative of the thing (b) with accusative and infinitive (c) with hoti following (d) with indirect question (e) with adverb modifier (f) abstractly (6) acknowledge, recognize as that which one is or claims to be. Louw and Nida list the following usages (Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament Based on Semantic Domains volume 2): (1) to possess information about - to know, to know about, to have knowledge of, to be acquainted with, acquaintance’ (page 334). (2) to acquire information by whatever means, but often with the implication of personal involvement or experience - ‘to learn, to find out’ (page 326). (3) to learn to know a person through direct personal experience, implying a continuity of relationship - ‘to know, to become acquainted with, to be familiar with’ (page 328). (4) to come to an understanding as the result of ability to experience and learn - ‘to come to understand, to perceive, to comprehend’ (page 382). (5) to indicate that one does know - ‘to acknowledge’ (page 369). (6) to have sexual intercourse with’ (page 258). (7) (an idiom, probably an adage or traditional saying, literally, ‘do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing’) an admonition to do something without letting people know it - ‘to do something secretly, to do something without letting the public know’ (page 344). Walter Schmithals lists the following New Testament usages (Exegetical Dictionary of the New Testament volume 1, pages 250-251): (1) One learns or comes to know a fact from information (2) One notices or observes a hidden intent (3) One ascertains or seeks to learn through investigation, inquiry and discovery (4) One knows (about) on the basis of experience (5) Of persons: know someone; someone is or becomes known felt/sensed, perceived, decided, understood (6) sexual relations (7) to be skilled at, be able, command of (a language). Vine's Expository Dictionary of Biblical Words states that ginosko signifies “‘to be taking in knowledge, to come to know, recognize, understand,’ or ‘to understand completely,’ e. g., (Mark 13:28,29; John 13:12; 15:18; 21:17; 2 Cor. 8:9; Heb. 10:34; 1 John 2:5; 4:2,6) (twice), (7,13; 5:2,20); in its past tenses it frequently means ‘to know in the sense of realizing,’ the aorist or point tense usually indicating definiteness, (Matt. 13:11; Mark 7:24; John 7:26); in (10:38) ‘that ye may know (aorist tense) and understand, (present tense)’; (19:4; Acts 1:7; 17:19; Rom. 1:21; 1 Cor. 2:11) (2nd part), (14; 2 Cor. 2:4; Eph. 3:19; 6:22; Phil. 2:19; 3:10; 1 Thes. 3:5; 2 Tim. 2:19; Jas. 2:20; 1 John 2:13) (twice), (14; 3:6; 4:8; 2 John 1; Rev. 2:24; 3:3, 9). In the passive voice, it often signifies ‘to become known,’ e. g., (Matt. 10:26; Phil. 4:5). In the sense of complete and absolute

2008 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 52 understanding on God's part, it is used, e. g., in (Luke 16:15; John 10:15) (of the Son as well as the Father); (1 Cor. 3:20). In (Luke 12:46), KJV, it is rendered ‘he is... aware.’ In the NT ginosko frequently indicates a relation between the person ‘knowing’ and the object known; in this respect, what is ‘known’ is of value or importance to the one who knows, and hence the establishment of the relationship, e. g., especially of God's ‘knowledge,’ (1 Cor. 8:3), ‘if any man love God, the same is known of Him’; (Gal. 4:9), ‘to be known of God’; here the ‘knowing’ suggests approval and bears the meaning ‘to be approved’; so in (2 Tim. 2:19); cf. (John 10:14,27; Gen. 18:19; Nah. 1:7); the relationship implied may involve remedial chastisement, (Amos 3:2). The same idea of appreciation as well as ‘knowledge’ underlies several statements concerning the ‘knowledge’ of God and His truth on the part of believers, e. g., (John 8:32; 14:20,31; 17:3; Gal. 4:9) (1st part); (1 John 2:3-13,14; 4:6,8, 16; 5:20); such ‘knowledge’ is obtained, not by mere intellectual activity, but by operation of the Holy Spirit consequent upon acceptance of Christ. Nor is such ‘knowledge’ marked by finality; see e. g., (2 Pet. 3:18; Hos. 6:3), RV. The verb is also used to convey the thought of connection or union, as between man and woman, (Matt. 1:25; Luke 1:34). Vine commenting on the distinction between ginosko and oida , writes, “The differences between ginosko (No. 1) and oida demand consideration: (a) ginosko , frequently suggests inception or progress in ‘knowledge,’ while oida suggests fullness of ‘knowledge,’ e. g., (John 8:55), ‘ye have not known Him’ ( ginosko ), i. e., begun to ‘know,’ ‘but I know Him’ ( oida ), i. e., ‘know Him perfectly’; (13:7), ‘What I do thou knowest not now,’ i. e. Peter did not yet perceive ( oida ) its significance, ‘but thou shalt understand,’ i. e., ‘get to know ( ginosko ), hereafter’; (14:7), ‘If ye had known Me’ ( ginosko ), i. e., ‘had definitely come to know Me,’ ‘ye would have known My Father also’ ( oida ), i. e., ‘would have had perception of’: ‘from henceforth ye know Him’ ( ginosko ), i. e., having unconsciously been coming to the Father, as the One who was in Him, they would now consciously be in the constant and progressive experience of ‘knowing’ Him; in (Mark 4:13), ‘Know ye not ( oida ) this parable? and how shall ye know ( ginosko ) all the parables?’ (RV), i. e., ‘Do ye not understand this parable? How shall ye come to perceive all...’ the intimation being that the first parable is a leading and testing one; (b) while ginosko frequently implies an active relation between the one who ‘knows’ and the person or thing ‘known’ (see No. 1, above), oida expresses the fact that the object has simply come within the scope of the ‘knower's’ perception; thus in (Matt. 7:23) ‘I never knew you’ ( ginosko ) suggests ‘I have never been in approving connection with you,’ whereas in (25:12), ‘I know you not’ ( oida ) suggests ‘you stand in no relation to Me.’” Thayer’s New Greek-English Lexicon lists the following meanings (page 117- 118): (1) To learn to know, come to know, get a knowledge of; pass. To become

2008 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 53 known (2) To know, understand, perceive, have knowledge of (3) By a Hebraistic euphemism to have sex (4) To become acquainted with, to know. Moulton’s Analytical Greek Lexicon Revised lists the following (pages 79-80): (1) To know, whether the action be inceptive or complete and settled (2) To perceive (3) To mark, discern (4) To ascertain by examination (5) To understand (6) To acknowledge (7) To resolve, conclude (8) To be assured (9) To be skilled, to be a master of a thing (10) To know carnally (11) From the Heb. To view with favor. Ginosko denotes the attainment or the manifestation of knowledge and is used for the following: (1) where there is reference to some earlier state of ignorance, or to some prior facts on which the knowledge is based. (2) where the ideas of thoroughness, familiarity or of approbation are involved. Both ideas arise out of the stress ginosko lays on the process of reception. Now, in Romans 6:6, ginosko does not refer to an experiential knowledge or reflection upon experience, which the word usually denotes in the Greek New Testament since in context Paul is not addressing his readers’ conduct or experience. Rather, he is educating them concerning the doctrine that their old Adamic sin nature was crucified at the Cross with Christ in order to break the power of the sin nature in their lives so that they would not have to be slaves to it. Paul is presenting information in Romans 6:1-10 that would prevent any misconceptions regarding his teaching in Romans 5:20 that where sin increased, grace abounded all the more. In Romans 6:1-10, he is teaching them the doctrine of retroactive positional truth and current positional truth. The former means that when Christ died on the Cross, God views the justified sinner as having died with Christ as well. The latter means that when Christ was raised from the dead, God views the justified sinners as having been raised from the dead with Christ. In these verses, Paul employs the indicative mood with the verbs indicating he is presenting statements of doctrine whereas in Romans 6:11-23, he switches to the imperative mood indicating that he wants his readers to experience their position in Christ. Therefore, in Romans 6:6, he is not addressing his readers’ experience or conduct, rather he is educating them about spiritual truths concerning their union with Christ. Thus, ginosko has no reference to any kind of experiential knowledge. Therefore, there are two possible alternatives to interpreting ginosko . First of all, the verb can denote the attainment of knowledge where there is reference to some earlier state of ignorance or it can denote the attainment of knowledge where there is a reference to some prior facts on which the knowledge is based. Secondly, the verb can denote the attainment of knowledge where the idea of familiarity is involved. Both ideas arise out of the stress ginosko lays on the process of reception of this knowledge through teaching.

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The first person plural form of the verb, which means, “ we ” indicates quite clearly for us that the latter is in view. In Romans 6:3, Paul employed the second person plural form of the verb agnoeo , “to be ignorant” in relation to some in Rome who might have been ignorant concerning the doctrine of positional truth. Here in Romans 6:5, the fact that Paul uses the first person plural form of the verb indicates that he is addressing all the believers in Rome with the implication of this knowledge being common to all the believers. The information he presents in the hoti clause that follows ginosko indicates that this information that all Christians would be and should be familiar with. Therefore, in Romans 6:6, the verb ginosko denotes the attainment of knowledge that all Christians would be and should be familiar with. The hoti clause that follows it reveals that this information is concerning the fact that all Christians have been identified with Christ in His crucifixion in order to break the power of the sin nature over them so that they might not be its slave. Therefore, ginosko implies that Paul’s readers should know this information. This verb indicates that he considered it common knowledge among the Christian community that the believer was identified with Christ in His crucifixion since they were taught this through the ritual of water baptism and instruction. This word is also used to rebuke those who had fallen victim to antinomian teaching because they were ignorant that they were identified with Christ in both His spiritual and physical deaths as well as His resurrection. If you recall, in Romans 6:1-2a, Paul emphatically rejects the idea that a Christian living under the dominion of the sin nature accentuates the grace of God. Romans 6:1-2a, “Therefore, what is the conclusion that we are forced to? Should we persist in living under the dominion of the sin nature in order that grace might increase? Absolutely not!” In Romans 5:20b, Paul taught that where personal sin increased, God’s grace infinitely abounded. Then, in Romans 6:1, he poses the rhetorical question that presents the concept of a believer persisting in living under the dominion of the sin nature in order that God’s grace might increase in the sense of giving God more opportunity to manifest His grace through the forgiveness of sins. In Romans 6:2a, he emphatically rejects this idea. Then, in Romans 6:2b, Paul poses another rhetorical question that demands a negative response and rejects the idea of the believer persisting to live in under the dominion of the sin nature in order that God’s grace might increase or manifest itself more often. Romans 6:2, “Absolutely not! We, who are indeed of such character and of a particular class of individuals, have died with reference to the sin nature, how shall we still live under its dominion? ” In Romans 6:2b, Paul poses a rhetorical question, which asks, “If we (Christians) have died with reference to the sin nature, how shall we still live under

2008 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 55 its dominion?” He is asking his fellow Christians, “is it right or appropriate that they have a lifestyle of obeying the lusts of the sin nature when they have died to the sin nature by being identified with Christ in His death?” Paul is not asking here the means by which we might live in sin! Rather, he is asking if it is appropriate for a Christian to do so when in fact, he has died to the sin nature through the physical death of Christ. In this passage, the interrogative particle pos should be translated “how” and not “how is it possible” since we know from the Scriptures that it is possible for a believer to habitually live under the dominion of the sin nature, i.e. Solomon. Then, in Romans 6:3, Paul employs the verb agnoeo , which means, “to be ignorant.” He uses this word with reference to ignorance concerning the teaching that sinners are identified with Jesus Christ in His death through the baptism of the Holy Spirit the moment they were declared justified by God the Father as a result of exercising faith in Jesus Christ. Romans 6:3, “Or, are some of you in a state of ignorance concerning the fact that all of us who have been identified with Christ, who is Jesus, have been identified with His spiritual death?” Paul poses this rhetorical question in response to any misconceptions regarding his teaching in Romans 5:20 that where sin increased, God’s grace abounded all the more in form of the forgiveness of sins. The second person plural form of the verb emphasized that Paul was posing this question to the believers in Rome who might have erroneously come to the conclusion that grace is a license to sin as a result of being ignorant of the fact that they have been identified with Christ in His death through the baptism of the Spirit. This type of attitude is called “antinomianism” comes from the Greek anti , “against” and the noun nomos , “law,” thus the expression literally means, “against the law.” In Romans 3:8, Paul states that he was accused of antinomianism by the Judaizers. Romans 3:8, “Furthermore, what is the conclusion that we are forced to? (As we have been slanderously charged with in the past and continue to be up to the present moment and as some have in the past alleged we say and continue to do so up to the present moment), ‘Let us perpetrate evil acts in order that blessings might result.’ No! Their condemnation is, as an eternal spiritual truth, deserved. ” Jude addresses the issue of antinomianism in Jude 4. Jude 4, “For certain persons have crept in unnoticed, those who were long beforehand marked out for this condemnation, ungodly persons who turn the grace of our God into licentiousness and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.”

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The second person plural form of the verb agnoeo in Romans 6:3 is a “categorical” plural meaning that it does not refer to all the Roman believers but only a “particular category” of believers who were leading a sinful lifestyle as a result of erroneously concluding that grace is a license to sin. Not all Christians were ignorant that they were identified with Christ in His death and as a result were leading a sinful lifestyle. So when Paul says “all of you” in Romans 6:3, he is not referring to all the believers in Rome but rather “some” of them. In Romans 6:3, this rhetorical question that the verb agnoeo introduces, implies or presupposes that these carnal Roman Christians were expected to know that they were dead to sin by virtue of their identification with Christ in His death through the baptism of the Spirit. This spiritual truth was illustrated in the early first century apostolic church through water baptism. When the believer was placed under the water that portrayed the believer as having been identified with Christ in His death and burial whereas when he was taken up out of the water that portrayed the believer identified with Christ in His resurrection. The verb agnoeo in Romans 6:3 in this rhetorical question indicates quite clearly that believers have a responsibility to know the truth about their union and identification with Jesus Christ in His death, burial, and resurrection. Now, when Paul wrote this epistle, he had never been to Rome and was thus not acquainted with the Roman believers, thus his question indicates that he considered it common knowledge among the Christian community that the believer was identified with Christ in His death, burial and resurrection. In fact, upon His ascension into heaven, the Lord Jesus Christ informed the apostles that they would be baptized with the Holy Spirit, which turned out to be ten days later on the day of Pentecost (Acts 1:5 compare with Acts). Then, in Romans 6:3, Paul switches back from the second person plural to the first person plural since he is teaching his readers truths, which pertain to all believers. He employs the first person plural form of the relative pronoun hosos (o%so$), which refers to those sinners who have been identified with Christ through the baptism of the Holy Spirit as a result of being declared justified by the Father through faith in His Son Jesus Christ Romans 6:3, “Or, are some of you in a state of ignorance concerning the fact that all of us who have been identified with Christ, who is Jesus, have been identified with His spiritual death?” In Romans 6:3, the relative pronoun hosos has no antecedent and is in the masculine gender referring to all those who have been declared justified through faith in Jesus Christ since only believers in Jesus Christ are identified with Him in His death through the baptism of the Spirit.

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Paul teaches in Romans 6:4a that the believer is identified with Jesus Christ in His physical death and burial whereas Romans 6:4b teaches that Christ’s resurrection enables the believer to walk in newness of life. Romans 6:4, “Therefore, we have been buried with Him through baptism with respect to His physical death in order that just as Christ was raised from the dead ones through the glory of the Father, in the same way, we, ourselves will also walk in the realm of an extraordinary life. He teaches in Romans 6:5 that the believer’s identification with Christ in His physical death is the basis for his future resurrection. Romans 6:5, “Therefore, if and let us assume that it is true for the sake of argument that we are entered into union with Him, conformed to His physical death. Of course, we believed this is true. Then, certainly, we will also be united with Him, conformed to His resurrection.” Then, in Romans 6:6, Paul employs the verb ginosko to denote the attainment of knowledge that all Christians would be and should be familiar with and to subtly rebuke those who might have succumbed to the antinomian teaching as a result of being ignorant of their identification with Christ in His death and resurrection. Paul’s use of the verb ginosko also indicates that the demonstrative pronoun houtos , “ this ,” which follows it is “kataphoric” and not “anaphoric.” The former means that houtos is pointing to the clause that follows it whereas the latter would point to the clause preceding it. If houtos was “anaphoric” it would be pointing to Paul’s statement in Romans 6:5. In this passage, Paul teaches that if the believer has been conformed to Christ’s death and he has, then he will certainly be conformed to His resurrection. This would mean that ginosko refers to knowledge concerning this teaching. However, this would leave the hoti clause to follow as standing alone and it cannot do so since it does not make sense without the verb ginosko . Therefore, houtos is “kataphoric” referring to the information contained in the hoti clause, which follows it. Therefore, the “kataphoric” use of houtos indicates that the teaching presented in the hoti clause that follows it, is information that all Christians would be and should be familiar with. So the first person plural form of the verb ginosko is an “inclusive we” referring to Paul and his audience, who like himself, are sinners who have been declared justified by God through faith in Jesus Christ and have been identified with Christ in His crucifixion. The verb functions as a “substantive” participle and not a “dependent adverbial participle of cause.” Many expositors of this passage interpret ginosko as a participle of cause meaning that they believe that Romans 6:6 is explaining Romans 6:5. They interpret Romans 6:6 as explaining why conformity with Christ’s death leads to conformity with His resurrection.

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The translators of the New International Version (NIV) interpret ginosko this way. Romans 6:5-7, “If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection. For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin.” (NIV) Therefore, they interpret Paul as saying that the Christian’s conformity to Christ’s death leads to conformity with His resurrection “because” they know that their old self was crucified with Christ. However, the Christian’s conformity to Christ’s death that leads to conformity to His resurrection is not because he knows that his old Adamic sin nature was crucified with Christ. Rather, he is conformed to Christ’s death and resurrection because of an act of God. Specifically, this conformity to Christ’s death, which led to conformity in His resurrection, took place through the baptism of the Spirit when the justified sinner was identified with Christ in His crucifixion, His spiritual and physical deaths, His burial and resurrection and session. The verb ginosko emphasizes the responsibility of the Christian to know this truth and does not imply that the Christian must know that his old self was crucified with Christ in order to be conformed to Christ in His death and resurrection. He is conformed to Christ’s death and resurrection whether he knows it or not. In Romans 6:1-10, Paul is teaching his readers the doctrine of their position in Christ and not their experience, which is indicated in that the verbs he employs in these verses are in the indicative mood. However, in Romans 6:11-23, he then addresses their conduct as indicated in that the verbs he employs are in the imperative mood signifying that he wants his readers to experience their position in Christ. Therefore, in Romans 6:6, the verb ginosko functions as a “substantive” participle and begins a new sentence indicating a minor break between verses 5 and 6. Romans 6:6-7 reiterate and further explain the meaning of the believer’s identification with Christ in His physical death, which he taught in Romans 6:4a and 5a. Then, Romans 6:8-10 emphasizes the relationship between identification with Christ in His physical death and experiencing eternal life as a result of being identified with Him in His resurrection, which is the substance of Romans 6:4b and 5b. The active voice of the verb ginosko in Romans 6:6 denotes the subject as performing the action of the verb. The subject is Christians. Therefore, the active voice indicates all Christians as the subject would be familiar and should be familiar with the teaching that they have been crucified with Christ in order that

2008 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 59 the old sin nature might be deprived of its power so that they would no longer be slaves to it. The present tense of the verb ginosko is a “perfective present,” which is used to emphasize that the results of a past action are still continuing. Lexical type verbs like ginosko have a perfective force to it. Therefore, the “perfective present” emphasizes the result of all Christians learning through instruction that they have been crucified with Christ in order that the power of the old Adamic sin nature might be broken so that the believer might no longer be its slave. The “perfective present” says all Christians would be familiar and should be familiar with this doctrine. We will translate ginosko , “ we are very familiar with…through instruction .” Romans 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.” “This ” is the accusative neuter singular form of the immediate demonstrative pronoun houtos ( ou!!to$ ) (hoo-tos), which is “kataphoric” pointing to the hoti clause statement that immediately follows. As we noted earlier, the verb ginosko denotes the attainment of knowledge that all Christians would be and should be familiar with. It indicates that the demonstrative pronoun houtos , “ this ,” which follows it is “kataphoric” and not “anaphoric.” The former means that houtos is pointing to the clause that follows it whereas the latter would point to the clause preceding it. If houtos was “anaphoric” it would be pointing to Paul’s statement in Romans 6:5. In this passage, Paul teaches that if the believer has been conformed to Christ’s death and he has, then he will certainly be conformed to His resurrection. This would mean that ginosko refers to knowledge concerning this teaching. However, this would leave the hoti clause to follow as standing alone and it cannot do so since it does not make sense without the verb ginosko . Therefore, houtos is “kataphoric” referring to the information contained in the hoti clause, which follows it indicating that the teaching contained in the clause is information that all Christians would be and should be familiar with. We will translate houtos , “ this .” Corrected translation thus far of Romans 6:6: “This we are very familiar with through instruction…” Romans 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.” “That ” is the conjunction hoti ( o^ti ) (hot-ee), which is used with the indicative mood of the verb sustauroo , “ was crucified with ” in order to form an appositional

2008 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 60 clause that it is presenting the content of what all Christians should be familiar with. We will translate hoti , “ namely, that .” Corrected translation thus far of Romans 6:6: “This we are very familiar with through instruction, namely, that…” Romans 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.” “Our ” is the genitive first person plural form of the personal pronoun hemeis (h(mei~$ ) (hay-mice), which is employed with the definite article that precedes the adjective palaios , “ old ,” which in turn is modifying the noun anthropos , “ self .” Together, they denote possession. The personal pronoun hemeis refers to Paul and his fellow Christians and functions as a “genitive of possession” and “possessive” pronoun indicating that this “old self” or more accurately “old man” “belongs to” Paul and his fellow Christians. We will translate hemeis , “ our .” Corrected translation thus far of Romans 6:6: “This we are very familiar with through instruction, namely, that our…” Romans 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.” “Old self ” is composed of the articular nominative masculine singular form of the adjective palaios ( palaiov$ ) (pal-ah-yos), “ old ” which is modifying the nominative masculine singular form of the noun anthropos ( a*nqrwpo$ ) (anth-ro- pos), “self .” The noun anthropos means, “man” and is modified by the adjective palaios , which means, “old” and together, they are personifying the old Adamic sin nature. Many expositors disagree with this interpretation. They contend that this expression speaks of the justified sinner’s position in Adam or in other words, his life under the federal and seminal headship of Adam. They say it refers to the Christian when he was enslaved to the sin nature and spiritual death, and was a sinner by nature and practice and thus stood condemned in the judgment of a holy God. Douglas Moo commenting on the expression “the old man” writes, “They designate the person as a whole, considered in relation to the corporate structure to which he or she belongs. ‘Old man and ‘new man’ are not, ontological, but relational or positional in orientation. They do not, at least in the first place, speaks of a change in nature, but of a change in relationship. ‘Our old man’ is not our Adamic, or sin ‘nature’ that is judged and dethroned on the cross and to which is added in the believer another ‘nature,’ ‘the new man.’ Rather, the ‘old man’ is what we were ‘in Adam’-the ‘man’ of the old age, who lives under the tyranny of sin and death. As J.R.W. Stott puts it, ‘what was crucified with Christ was not a

2008 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 61 part of me called my old nature but the whole of me as I was before I was converted’” (The Epistle to the Romans, page 373; William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company; Grand Rapids, Michigan/Cambridge, U.K.). C.K. Barrett writes, “It is much more exact to say that the ‘old man’ is Adam-or rather, ourselves in union with Adam and that the ‘new man’ is Christ-or rather ourselves in union with Christ” (The Epistle to the Romans, page 117; Hendrickson Publishers). However, there are problems with Moo and Barrett’s view. In Ephesians 4:22, Paul teaches that the “ old man ” is “ being corrupted.” If we take the “ old man ” as being the believer under the headship of Adam or in other words, the person the believer was before getting saved, then Paul is saying that this person in union with Adam that the believer was before salvation is being corrupted. The problem with this is that the moment the believer was declared justified through faith in Christ, he was transferred from the headship of Adam to the headship of Christ (1 Corinthians 15:22; 2 Corinthians 5:17). 1 Corinthians 15:22, “For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive.” Romans 7:4, “Therefore, my brethren, you also were made to die to the Law through the body of Christ, so that you might be joined to another, to Him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God.” 2 Corinthians 5:17, “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new spiritual species; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.” The old man could not possibly be the believer in union with Adam since he is no longer in union with Adam but with Christ! Also, in what sense is the person in union with Adam, being corrupted? Is it his soul or his body that is being corrupted or both? Unregenerate man is dichotomous meaning body and soul. The sin nature must reside somewhere. It cannot possibly be the soul that is being corrupted since the justified sinner still has the same soul that he possessed before salvation and will have the same soul in a resurrection body. Therefore, it must be the physical body, which is supported by Paul’s statement in Romans 6:6 that the justified sinner was crucified with Christ in order that the “ body of sin ” would be deprived of its power. The fact that the old man is being corrupted as Paul says in Ephesians 4:22 would agree with the interpretation that the sin nature resides in the genetic structure of the physical body. Furthermore, the physical bodies of human beings deteriorate with age and eventually ceased to function and decompose, which is further indication that the sin nature resides in the genetic structure of the physical body. The fact that the sin nature resides in the genetic structure of the physical body is why the justified

2008 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 62 sinner needs a resurrection body to replace his sinful body. This is why Christ had to die physically and rise from the dead in a resurrection body because the sin nature resides in the human body. Moo and Morris and others reject the idea that the sin nature resides in the genetic structure of the physical body. The question is then, where does it reside? It cannot reside in the soul since the believer still has the same soul that he has prior to regeneration as we noted before. In fact, further indicating that the sin nature resides in the physical body and not the soul is Peter’s statement in 1 Peter 2:11. 1 Peter 2:11, “Beloved, I urge you as aliens and strangers to abstain from fleshly lusts which wage war against the soul.” Peter teaches that these lusts come from the flesh, i.e. the body and that they wage war against the soul, thus implying the sin nature resides in the human body. Moo, Morris and Barrett contend that the Bible never teaches the sin nature resides in the human body, yet they never present any Scriptural documentation to support their point but simply reject it out of hand. In fact, Morris contends that the expression “ body of sin ” in Romans 6:6 refers to the human body, which so easily responds to sinful impulses. However, in Romans 6:6, the expression “body of sin” is composed of the genitive form of the noun hamartia , “ sin ,” which functions as an “attributive genitive” meaning that it specifies an attribute or an innate quality of the head noun, which is soma , “ body .” This type of genitive expresses quality like an adjective but with more sharpness and distinctness. Thus, it emphasizes the “sinfulness” of the human body that is corrupted by the sin nature, which resides in its genetic structure. Also, if Morris contends that the expression “ body of sin ” in Romans 6:6 refers to the human body, which so easily responds to sinful impulses, then where are these sinful impulses coming from if not from the body? 1 Peter 2:11 says that they come from the flesh! They cannot come from the soul since Peter says that the fleshly lusts wage war against the soul. The view of Morris, Moo and Barrett and others regarding the sin nature does not account for the location of the sin nature. Therefore, it is the conviction of this author based upon the Scripture already presented that the “ old man ” is a personification of the sin nature. It resides in the genetic structure of the human body according to the expression “ body of sin ” or “ sinful body ” in Romans 6:6, which is being corrupted according to Ephesians 4:22. This again agrees with what we see in nature in that the human body deteriorates with age and eventually ceases to function and decomposes immediately. The fact that the sin nature resides in the human body is further indicated in that Jesus Christ’s human body was not the result of the sexual union between Mary and Joseph but rather the result of the Holy Spirit impregnating Mary (Luke 1:35; cf. Hebrews 10:5-7). He could not have a human body that was the result of human

2008 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 63 copulation because the sin nature is passed down in this manner and resides in the body. This is significant in that it makes clear that Jesus Christ did not have the principle of the sin nature residing in Him since the Holy Spirit impregnated Mary. He did not have a human father who could pass down the sin nature in sex. This makes clear that our Lord was not under the headship of Adam like the rest of the human race. Every member of the human race is under the headship of Adam due to physical birth. However, Jesus Christ did not have a sin nature because He did not receive a human body as a result of human copulation. Now, because He did not have a human father and that His human body did not have a sin nature residing in it, it is then, clear that the rest of the human race are sinners due to the fact that they possess a sin nature that resides in their physical bodies since it is passed down through copulation. The human body of Adam became corrupted as a result of his disobedience, which he passed down to his posterity. Therefore, the expression “ the old man ” refers to the old sin nature that resides in the genetic structure of the human body that has corrupted the total personality of the unregenerate person and is the direct result of the fall of Adam. This expression emphasizes that the source of the sinful nature is Adam and relates us to Adam just as the “new man” relates us to Jesus Christ. It refers to what the believer was prior to being declared justified through faith in Jesus Christ. The expression “ the old man ” is a personification of the sin nature that we received via the imputation of Adam’s original sin at the moment of physical birth. This old Adamic sin nature is passed down through sex and resides in the genetic structure of the human body, which is why the human body is deteriorating and will eventually cease to function and will immediately decompose once it dies. Dwight Pentecost commenting on Romans 6:6, writes, “Our old man has been crucified! Again, the apostle uses the expression ‘the old man’ in Ephesians 4:22, where Paul exhorts believers to ‘put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts.’ Again, in Colossians 3:9, Paul says, ‘Lie not to one another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds.’ Now, the old man refers to the old sinful nature, the total personality, corrupted by the fall of Adam. ‘The old man’ emphasizes the source of the corruption and takes us back to Adam, our first father, whose nature was corrupted by his disobedience and who passed on his nature to all his descendants. ‘The old man’ refers to the total unregenerate person and the nature which he has received because of his connection with Adam because he is a child of Adam. The term ‘the old man’ like the term ‘flesh,’ refer to the old unrenewed self-the old mind, the old heart, the old will-which is corrupt, reprobate, blind and lawless. The old man refers to what we were before God in salvation made each believing sinner a new

2008 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 64 man in Christ Jesus. ‘The old man’ relates us to Adam, just as the phrase ‘the new man’ relates us to Jesus Christ.” (Designed to be Like Him, pages 91-92; Kregel Publications, Grand Rapids, Michigan) The expressions “old man” and “new man” are directly related to the contrast between Adam and Christ, the “first man” and the “last” (1 Corinthians 15:45; cf. Romans 5:15). 1 Corinthians 15:45-49, “So also it is written, ‘The first MAN, Adam, BECAME A LIVING SOUL.’ The last Adam became a life-giving spirit. However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural; then the spiritual. The first man is from the earth, earthy; the second man is from heaven. As is the earthy, so also are those who are earthy; and as is the heavenly, so also are those who are heavenly. Just as we have borne the image of the earthy, we will also bear the image of the heavenly.” Romans 5:12-21 and other passages of Scripture teach that every person born into the world without exception received the imputation of Adam’s original sin in the Garden of Eden and the nature of Adam. Romans 5:12-21, “Therefore, based on this (principle), just as, through one man the sin nature entered into the human race so that spiritual death entered through this sin nature. Thus, in this manner, spiritual death spread to each and every member of the human race without exception because each and every member of the human race sinned (the moment Adam sinned). For you see, prior to the giving of the Law, personal sin was habitually taking place among the individual members of the human race however personal sin is never, as an eternal spiritual truth, charged to one’s account while the Law does not exist. Yet, in spite of this, spiritual death reigned as king from the fall of Adam to the giving of the Law to Moses, specifically, over those who had not sinned according to the same exact transgression committed by Adam, who is, as an eternal spiritual truth, an illustration of the One destined to come. However, on the other hand, absolutely not like this transgression is, as an eternal spiritual truth, also, in the same way, the gracious act. For if and let us assume that it is true for the sake of argument that by means of this transgression committed by the one, the entire human race died. Of course, we know this is true. How much more then has the grace originating from God and the gracious gift on the basis of grace, which is specifically, on the basis of the obedience of the one Man, who is Jesus, who is the Christ been generously and graciously offered to the entire human race. In fact, the condemnation through the one who sinned is absolutely not, as an eternal spiritual truth, like the gift itself. On the one hand the verdict arose from one transgression resulting in condemnation while on the other hand, the gracious act arose from innumerable transgressions resulting in justification. For if,

2008 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 65 and let us assume that it is true for the sake of argument that by means of the transgression committed by the one, spiritual death reigned as king through this one. Of course, we know this is true. Then, how much more those who do receive His transcendent grace, specifically, the gracious gift, which is His righteousness, will, as a certainty, reign as kings by means of life through the One, who is Jesus, who is the Christ. Therefore, as previously stated, just as through the one who committed the transgression resulted in condemnation affecting each and every member of the human race without exception in the same way also through the One who committed the righteous act resulted in the basis for the offer of justification, which produces (eternal) life, affecting each and every member of the human race without exception. For you see, just as through the one man’s disobedience, the entire human race has been rendered sinners in the same way also through the One’s obedience, many will, as a certainty, be rendered righteous. Now, the Law was an addendum in order that the transgression might increase but where personal sin increased, grace infinitely abounded in order that just as, the sin nature reigned as king in the realm of spiritual death in the same way, also grace would reign as king through righteousness resulting in eternal life through Jesus, who is the Christ, who is our Lord.” This nature of Adam is always disobedient to God and making them all physically alive but spiritually dead, having no capacity whatsoever to have a relationship with God. Romans 8:8, “and those who are in the flesh cannot please God.” The first man, Adam, brought sin and death into the human race resulting in a curse whereas the “Last Adam,” Jesus Christ, brought life and blessing to the human race and so therefore, the entire human boils down to these two men. 1 Corinthians 15:22, “For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive.” 1 Corinthians 15:45, “So also it is written, ‘The first MAN, Adam, BECAME A LIVING SOUL.’ The last Adam {became} a life-giving spirit .” Romans 5:12 teaches that because of the imputation of Adam’s original sin to the genetically formed old sin nature, every member of the human race is born physically alive but spiritually dead. This is why David writes that he was brought forth in iniquity and sin his mother conceived him. Psalm 51:1-5, “Be gracious to me, O God, according to Your lovingkindness; According to the greatness of Your compassion blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. Against You, You only, I have sinned and done what is evil in Your sight, so that You

2008 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 66 are justified when You speak and blameless when You judge. Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin my mother conceived me .” Adam’s original sin plus Adam’s sin nature equals “spiritual death,” which means that every member of the human race is separated from God and has absolutely no capacity to have a relationship with God who is holy. The old sin nature manifests itself in three ways: (1) Mental attitude sins (2) Verbal sins (3) Overt acts of sin. Sin is any mental, verbal or overt activity that is contrary to the perfect character and standards of God and results in spiritual death (Rom. 6:23). Synonyms for personal sins: (1) “ Falling short ” (Rom. 3:23) (2) “Transgressions ”: Rebellion against or overstepping the Law (Psa. 51:1) (3) “Acting unfaithfully ”: Self will over God’s will (Josh. 22:20) (4) “ Trespasses ” (Eph. 2:1) (5) “ Lawlessness and rebellion ”: Failure to keep the Mosaic Law (1 Tim. 1:9-10) (6) “ Unbelief ”: Rejection of Christ as Savior (John 8:24; 16:9). The sin nature contains: (1) An area of weakness (2) An area of strength (3) Trends toward legalism (4) Lust patterns. The area of weakness is the source of temptation for personal sin and the area of strength is the source of human good, which God hates. Mental attitude sins are the most destructive to the spiritual life since the spiritual centers around your thinking. Mental attitude sins include: (1) Pride (2) Envy (3) Jealousy (4) Bitterness (5) Hatred (6) Vindictiveness (7) Implacability (8) Guilt feelings (9) Fear (10) Worry (11) Anxiety (12) Self-pity. The area of strength produces human good or “ dead works ” (Heb. 6:1). Both believers and unbelievers can produce human good since both possess a sin nature. The believer who is not influenced, guided and empowered by means of the Spirit produces human good, which cannot please God (1 Corinthians 3:11-15; 2 Corinthians 5:10). Anything that an unbeliever can do is not the Christian way of life. A believer can only please God when they are filled with the Spirit. God only accepts divine good or good done in His power since He will only reward the believer for producing divine good and He will not reward the believer who produces human good (1 Cor. 3:11-14). All human good is evil and is despised by God (Isa. 64:6). Now, the fact that every member of the human race possesses a sin nature does mean that the entire human race is qualified for grace, which is all that God is free to do in imparting unmerited blessings to anyone who trusts in Jesus Christ as his or her Savior. In the New Testament, the old sin nature is called the “ old self, the flesh ,” which according to the Scriptures is being corrupted meaning that it is not getting better nor can it be rehabilitated but rather it is getting worse and worse everyday.

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The old sin nature resides in the genetic structure of the human body and this is why the apostle Paul in Romans 6:6 calls it the “ body of sin ” and this is why we need a resurrection body. Prior to salvation, the believer was enslaved to the lust patterns of the old Adamic sin nature since he was under real spiritual death meaning he had no capacity to experience fellowship with God (See Ephesians 2:1-3). At the moment of salvation, through the baptism of the Spirit, the omnipotence of the Spirit identified the believer with Christ in His crucifixion, death, burial, resurrection and session (See Romans 6:4-7; Ephesians 2:4-6). Also, at the moment of salvation, God gave the believer a new divine nature that gives him the capacity to experience deliverance from the lust patterns of the old Adamic sin nature (See 2 Peter 1:4). Therefore, since the believer has been crucified, died and buried with Christ and has been raised and seated with Christ and given a new divine nature, he is commanded to abstain from the various lust patterns of the old sin nature, which wage war against the believer’s soul and is to flee them. 1 Peter 2:11, “Beloved, I urge you as aliens and strangers to abstain from fleshly lusts which wage war against the soul.” 2 Timothy 2:22, “Now flee from youthful lusts and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart.” The unbeliever does not have this alternative of living in the new nature but only the believer does. The believer is prohibited from obeying the lust patterns of the old Adamic sin nature and is commanded to put on the nature of Christ, which is accomplished by obeying the Word of Christ and this constitutes walking by means of the Spirit (See Romans 6:12-13; 13:14; Galatians 5:16; Ephesians 4:17- 24). Since the believer has been crucified with Christ, he is commanded to consider himself dead to the sin nature. Romans 6:11, “Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus.” The believer who appropriates by faith the teaching of the Word of God that he has been crucified, died and buried with Christ will experience deliverance from the lust patterns of the old sin nature. Galatians 5:24, “Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.” The believer is to consider the members of his body to be dead to these lust patterns of the old sin nature since they were crucified at the cross and he has died with Christ.

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Colossians 3:5, “Therefore consider the members of your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry.” The will of God is that the believer obeys the teaching of the Word of God that he has been crucified, died, buried, raised and seated with Christ, which constitutes experiencing sanctification. 1 Thessalonians 4:3-5, “For this is the will of God, your sanctification; that is, that you abstain from sexual immorality, that each of you know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor, not in lustful passion, like the Gentiles who do not know God.” The Lord Jesus Christ was crucified so that the believer might not live for the lusts of the old sin nature but for the will of God (See 1 Peter 4:1-3). The believer who experiences sanctification is obeying the command to be holy like God. 1 Peter 1:14-16, “As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance, but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior because it is written, ‘YOU SHALL BE HOLY, FOR I AM HOLY.’” The believer sins because he chooses to disobey the teaching of the Word of God that his sin nature was crucified with Christ at the Cross and thus allows the sin nature to control and influence his soul so that he produces mental, verbal and overt acts of sin (See James 1:13-15). The believer’s sin nature will not be totally eradicated until he physically dies or when the rapture of the church takes place when the believer will receive a resurrection body to replace the body he now has, which contains the old sin nature (See 1 Corinthians 15:51-57; Philippians 3:20-21). In the meantime, the believer has a battle raging within him since he has two natures, which are diametrically opposed to one another and he must choose between the two since the old sin nature wars against the Spirit. Galatians 5:17, “For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please.” The new Christ-nature sets us free from the old Adamic nature. We utilize the new Christ-nature by obeying the Word of God, which constitutes experiencing fellowship with God (1 John 2:3-5) and walking by means of the Spirit since the Spirit speaks to the believer through the Word of God. Galatians 5:16, “But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh.” The believer loses fellowship through sin but is restored through the confession of sin (1 John 1:9).

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So this battle rages between the flesh, our old sin nature and the Spirit. Your soul is a battleground. The battle in your soul is related to whether you will live for self in the old sin nature or live for God in the new nature. Paul relates this battle in his own life as a believer. Romans 7:14-25, “For we know that the Law is spiritual, but I am of flesh, sold into bondage to sin. For what I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I {would} like to {do} but I am doing the very thing I hate. But if I do the very thing I do not want {to do} I agree with the Law, {confessing} that the Law is good. So now, no longer am I the one doing it, but sin, which dwells in me. For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good {is} not. For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want. But if I am doing the very thing I do not want, I am no longer the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me. I find then the principle that evil is present in me, the one who wants to do good. For I joyfully concur with the law of God in the inner man, but I see a different law in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin which is in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, on the one hand I myself with my mind am serving the law of God, but on the other, with my flesh the law of sin.” Now, at the moment of salvation, through regeneration, the Holy Spirit creates a human spirit for the imputation of eternal life by God the Father, which makes the believer a new spiritual species meaning he now possesses the divine nature, the nature of Christ. “Regeneration” is a ministry performed by the Holy Spirit on behalf of a person the moment they believe in Jesus Christ as their Savior where He creates a human spirit for the person so that they might receive the imputation of eternal life. Titus 3:5, “He (God the Holy Spirit) saved us, not on the basis of deeds (human works) which we have done in (human power) righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit.” This human spirit with eternal life imputed to it composes the believer’s new nature, i.e. the new self and this new nature is the nature of Christ. This act of regeneration makes the believer a new spiritual species, which is the nature of Christ that can never sin and that is described in Scripture by many phrases such as the “ new self, new man, newness of life, new creation .” Galatians 3:27, “For all of you who were identified with Christ have clothed yourselves with the nature of Christ .”

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1 Corinthians 15:45, “So also it is written, ‘The first MAN, Adam, BECAME A LIVING SOUL.’ The last Adam became a life-giving spirit .” 2 Corinthians 5:17, “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new spiritual species ; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.” 2 Peter 1:4, “For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature , having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust. 1 John 3:9, “No one who is born of God practices sin, because His seed abides in him; and he cannot sin, because he is born of God .” The human spirit is the receptacle for eternal life and together they give the believer the capacity to metabolize and apply spiritual phenomena communicated by the Holy Spirit through the teaching of the Word of God and to pray according to the will of God and to worship and serve God. The new Christ nature gives the believer the capacity to experience and enjoy fellowship with God and to love all men as Christ loved all men. We are commanded to put on the new Christ nature in order to practice the righteousness of God, which manifests itself in loving one another as Christ loved. Ephesians 4:24, “and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.” Ephesians 3:16, “that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man.” The inner man, the new Christ nature is strengthened with power through the Spirit when the believer obeys the voice of the Spirit, which is heard through the communication of the Word of God. The Word of God is alive and powerful and is the believer’s spiritual food that strengthens the new nature’s control over the soul. Hebrews 4:12, “For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” Matthew 4:4, “But He answered and said, "It is written, "MAN SHALL NOT LIVE ON BREAD ALONE, BUT ON EVERY WORD THAT PROCEEDS OUT OF THE MOUTH OF GOD.” The new Christ nature provides the believer the capacity to function in the love of God and experience fellowship with God and the holiness of God in his life. The new nature gives the believer the capacity to execute the command to be holy as God is holy and thus experience fellowship with Him. 1 Peter 1:14-16, “As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior because it is written, ‘YOU SHALL BE HOLY, FOR I AM HOLY.’”

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In Ephesians 4 and Colossians 3, the apostle Paul uses this expression “old man” in contrast with the “new man” challenging the Ephesian and Colossian believers to put off living in the old nature and put on the new nature so that they might live in a manner consistent with their new position in Christ. Ephesians 4:17-24, “So this I say, and affirm together with the Lord, that you walk no longer just as the Gentiles also walk, in the futility of their mind, being darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart; and they, having become callous, have given themselves over to sensuality for the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness. But you did not learn Christ in this way, if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught in Him, just as truth is in Jesus, that, in reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside the old self , which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit, and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new self , which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.” Colossians 3:1-11, “Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth. For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory. Therefore consider the members of your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry. For it is because of these things that the wrath of God will come upon the sons of disobedience, and in them you also once walked, when you were living in them. But now you also, put them all aside: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive speech from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, since you laid aside the old self with its evil practices, and have put on the new self who is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created him -- a renewal in which there is no distinction between Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave and freeman, but Christ is all, and in all.” In Romans 6:6, the adjective palaios , “ old ” is in the first attributive position, which is indicated by the article-adjective-noun construction. This construction indicates that the adjective palaios , “ old ” receives greater emphasis than the noun anthropos , “man ” that it modifies. Therefore, Paul is emphasizing that the sin nature belongs to the old age where Satan, the sin nature and spiritual death reigned over the human race. The article also indicates that the noun anthropos , “ man ” functions as a nominative subject meaning that it produces the action of the verb sustauroo , “ was

2008 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 72 crucified with .” It is also used with hemeis , “ our ” to denote possession indicating that this old man or old Adamic sin nature “belongs to” the justified sinner. We will translate palaios , “ old ” and the noun anthropos , “ man .” Corrected translation thus far of Romans 6:6: “This we are very familiar with through instruction, namely, that our old man…” Romans 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.” “Was crucified with ” is the third person singular aorist passive indicative form of the verb sustauroo ( sustaurovw ) (soos-tow-ro-o), which means, “to be crucified along with.” Therefore, the verb indicates that God views the justified sinner’s old Adamic sin nature as having been crucified along with Christ at the Cross of Calvary, two thousand years ago. This refers to the doctrine of “retroactive positional truth,” which refers to the believer having been identified with Jesus Christ in His death through the baptism of the Spirit. This is also called “positional” death, which identifies all believers with Christ in His death on the Cross through the baptism of the Spirit (Rom. 6:3-4; Col. 2:12; 3:3). God gives life to the positionally dead in the sense that He identifies believers with Jesus Christ in His resurrection. By “positionally” I mean that God views the believer as having died on the Cross with Christ. The verb sustauroo refers to the fact that the believer is dead to the sin nature and is no longer under its rulership since at the moment of salvation they were identified with Christ in His death and under the headship of Christ and no longer under the headship of Adam. Throughout chapter six, Paul repeatedly mentions that the believer is identified with Christ in His death. Romans 6:2, “May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it?” Romans 6:3, “Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death?” Romans 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.” Romans 6:5-7, “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, 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 for he who has died is freed from sin .”

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Romans 6:8, “Now if we have died with Christ , we believe that we shall also live with Him.” Romans 6:11, “Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus.” Romans 6:12-13, “Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its lusts 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.” This word sustauroo means that the believer is no longer under the authority of the sin nature. “Retroactive positional truth” is one of two different aspects related to “positional sanctification.” “Sanctification” is a technical theological term for the believer who has been set apart through the baptism of the Spirit at the moment of salvation in order to serve God exclusively and is accomplished in three stages: (1) Positional (2) Experiential (3) Ultimate. Sanctification deals with conforming the believer to the holiness of God and reproducing it in the believer. The “baptism of the Spirit” takes place exclusively during the dispensation of the church age and is accomplished at the moment of salvation when the omnipotence of the Spirit places the believer in a eternal union with Christ, thus identifying the believer positionally with Christ in His death, resurrection and session. Romans 6:3, “Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death?” 1 Corinthians 12:13, “For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.” Galatians 3:26-28, “For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” At the moment of salvation, the omnipotence of God the Holy Spirit causes the believer to become identical and united with the Lord Jesus Christ and also ascribes to the believer the qualities and characteristics of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Baptism of the Spirit results in positional sanctification and the potential to experience sanctification in time and the promise of ultimate sanctification at the resurrection of the church.

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By positionally, I mean that God views the believer as crucified, died, buried, raised and seated with Christ since at the moment of salvation, the Holy Spirit placed the believer in union with Christ, identifying him with Christ’s crucifixion (Romans 6:6; Galatians 2:20), His death (Romans 6:2, 7-8; Colossians 2:20; 3:3), His burial (Romans 6:4; Colossians 2:12), His resurrection (Romans 6:5; Ephesians 2:6; Philippians 3:10-11; Colossians 2:12; 3:1) and His session (Ephesians 2:6; Colossians 3:1). “Positional sanctification” is the believer’s “entrance” into the plan of God for the church age resulting in eternal security as well as two categories of positional truth (1 Cor. 1:2, 30; 1 Pet. 1:2; 1 Thess. 5:23; Eph. 5:26-27; Heb. 2:11; 10:10; Acts 20:32; 26:18; Rom. 6:3, 8; 2 Thess. 2:13). “Retroactive” positional truth is the church age believer’s identification with Christ in His death and burial (Romans 6:3-11; Colossians 2:12). “Current” positional truth is the church age believer’s identification with Christ in His resurrection, ascension and session (See Ephesians 2:4-6; Colossians 3:1-4). “Positional sanctification”: (1) What God has done for the church age believer. (2) His viewpoint of the church age believer. (3) Sets up the potential to experience sanctification in time. (4) Provides the believer with the guarantee of receiving a resurrection body. “Experiential sanctification” is the function of the church age believer’s spiritual life in time through obedience to the Father’s will, which is revealed by the Spirit through the communication of the Word of God (John 17:17; Rom. 6:19, 22; 2 Tim. 2:21; 1 Pet. 3:15; 1 Thess. 4:3-4, 7; 1 Tim. 2:15). The will of God is that the believer obey the teaching of the Word of God that he has been crucified, died, buried, raised and seated with Christ, which constitutes experiencing sanctification. “Experiential sanctification” is the post-salvation experience of the believer who is in fellowship with God by confessing any known sin to the Father when necessary followed by obedience to the Father’s will, which is revealed by the Spirit through the Word of God. Experiential sanctification is only a potential since it is contingent upon the church age believer responding to what God has done for him at the moment of salvation, therefore, only believers who are obedient to the Word of God will experience sanctification in time. The believer who experiences sanctification is walking in “ newness of life ” and he does this by obeying the teaching of the Word of God, which states that the believer has been crucified, died, buried, raised and seated with Christ and which teaching is inspired by the Holy Spirit (See Romans 6). The believer can experience this victory and deliverance by appropriating by faith the teaching of the Word of God that he has been crucified, died, buried,

2008 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 75 raised and seated with Christ (Romans 6:11-23; 8:1-17; Galatians 2:20; Colossians 3:5-17). Galatians 2:20, “I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.” The believer’s faith in the teaching of the Word of God that he has been crucified, died, buried, raised and seated with Christ will produce obedience in the believer needed for him to experience sanctification. The believer who appropriates by faith the teaching of the Word of God that he has been crucified, died and buried with Christ will experience deliverance from the lust patterns of the old sin nature. Galatians 5:24, “Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.” The believer is to consider the members of his body to be dead to these lust patterns of the old sin nature since they were crucified at the cross and he has died with Christ. Colossians 3:5, “Therefore consider the members of your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry.” The Lord Jesus Christ was crucified so that the believer might not live for the lusts of the old sin nature but for the will of God (See 1 Peter 4:1-3). 1 Peter 4:1-3, “Therefore, since Christ has suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same purpose, because he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, so as to live the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for the lusts of men, but for the will of God. For the time already past is sufficient for you to have carried out the desire of the Gentiles, having pursued a course of sensuality, lusts, drunkenness, carousing, drinking parties and abominable idolatries.” Prior to salvation, the believer was enslaved to the lust patterns of the old Adamic sin nature since he was under real spiritual death meaning he had no capacity to experience fellowship with God (See Ephesians 2:1-3). Ephesians 2:1-3, “And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest.” At the moment of salvation, through the baptism of the Spirit, the omnipotence of the Spirit identified the believer with Christ in His crucifixion, death, burial, resurrection and session (See Romans 6:4-7; Ephesians 2:4-6).

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Ephesians 2:4-7, “But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.” Also, at the moment of salvation, God gave the believer a new divine nature that gives him the capacity to experience deliverance from the lust patterns of the old Adamic sin nature (See 2 Peter 1:4). Galatians 3:27, “For all of you who were identified with Christ have clothed yourselves with the nature of Christ .” 1 Corinthians 15:45, “So also it is written, ‘The first MAN, Adam, BECAME A LIVING SOUL.’ The last Adam became a life-giving spirit .” 2 Corinthians 5:17, “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new spiritual species ; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.” 2 Peter 1:4, “For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature , having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust. 1 John 3:9, “No one who is born of God practices sin, because His seed abides in him; and he cannot sin, because he is born of God .” The new Christ nature that indwells every believer is the holiness of God and is perfectly holy just as Christ is and thus cannot sin. Believers sin because they choose to obey the temptations of the old sin nature and the lies of Satan’s cosmic system. The new Christ nature provides the believer the capacity to experience the holiness of God in his life and Christ-likeness is the production or the result of having a lifestyle of living in the new Christ nature. The new Christ nature functions when the believer is obedient to the voice of the Spirit, which is heard through the communication of the Word of God and constitutes putting on the new man or the new self or new nature. Ephesians 4:24, “and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.” Fruit bearing, i.e. Christ-like character is the result of experiencing the holiness of God, which is synonymous with “experiential sanctification” since the believer cannot experience fellowship with a holy God unless he himself is holy. Sanctification is experiencing the holiness of God or in other words manifesting the character of God through one’s thoughts, words and actions. Since the believer has been crucified with Christ, he is commanded to consider himself dead to the sin nature. Romans 6:11, “Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus.”

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Therefore, since the believer has been crucified, died and buried with Christ and has been raised and seated with Christ and given a new divine nature, he is commanded to abstain from the various lust patterns of the old sin nature, which wage war against the believer’s soul and is to flee them. 1 Peter 2:11, “Beloved, I urge you as aliens and strangers to abstain from fleshly lusts which wage war against the soul.” 2 Timothy 2:22, “Now flee from youthful lusts and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart.” The believer is prohibited from obeying the lust patterns of the old Adamic sin nature and is commanded to put on the nature of Christ, which is accomplished by obeying the Word of Christ and this constitutes walking by means of the Spirit (See Romans 6:12-13; 13:14; Galatians 5:16; Ephesians 4:17-24). Galatians 5:13-26, “For you were called to freedom, brethren; only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. For the whole Law is fulfilled in one word, in the statement, ‘YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.’ But if you bite and devour one another, take care that you are not consumed by one another. But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the Law. Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit. Let us not become boastful, challenging one another, envying one another.” Ephesians 4:17-5:2, “So this I say, and affirm together with the Lord, that you walk no longer just as the Gentiles also walk, in the futility of their mind being darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart and they, having become callous, have given themselves over to sensuality for the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness. But you did not learn Christ in this way if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught in Him, just as truth is in Jesus that, in reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of

2008 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 78 deceit and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth. Therefore, laying aside falsehood, SPEAK TRUTH EACH ONE OF YOU WITH HIS NEIGHBOR, for we are members of one another. Therefore, laying aside falsehood, SPEAK TRUTH EACH ONE OF YOU WITH HIS NEIGHBOR, for we are members of one another. BE ANGRY, AND YET DO NOT SIN; do not let the sun go down on your anger and do not give the devil an opportunity. He who steals must steal no longer; but rather he must labor, performing with his own hands what is good, so that he will have something to share with one who has need. Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, so that it will give grace to those who hear. Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you. Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma.” The believer sins because he chooses to disobey the teaching of the Word of God that his sin nature was crucified with Christ at the Cross and thus allows the sin nature to control and influence his soul so that he produces mental, verbal and overt acts of sin (See James 1:13-15). James 1:13-15, “Let no one say when he is tempted, ‘I am being tempted by God’; for God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone. But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust. Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death.” The believer’s sin nature will not be totally eradicated until he physically dies or when the rapture of the church takes place when the believer will receive a resurrection body to replace the body he now has, which contains the old sin nature (See 1 Corinthians 15:51-57; Philippians 3:20-21). Philippians 3:20-21, “For our citizenship exists from eternity past in the realm of the heavens, out from which also we ourselves at the present time are eagerly anticipating as Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. Who will cause our humiliating body to be outwardly transformed to be identical in essence with His glorious body because of the power that will enable Him to marshal all things created to Himself.”

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In the meantime, the believer has a battle raging within him since he has two natures, which are diametrically opposed to one another and he must choose between the two since the old sin nature wars against the Spirit. Galatians 5:17, “For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please.” Having died with Christ and being raised with Christ and possessing the new Christ-nature sets us free from the old Adamic nature. We utilize the new Christ- nature by obeying the Word of God, which constitutes experiencing fellowship with God (1 John 2:3-5) and walking by means of the Spirit since the Spirit speaks to the believer through the Word of God. Galatians 5:16, “But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh.” The believer loses fellowship through obeying the sin nature and committing personal sins. However, he is restored through the confession of sin (1 John 1:9). 1 John 1:9, “If any of us does at any time confess our sins, then, He (God the Father) is faithful and just with the result that He forgives us our sins and purifies us from each and every wrongdoing.” This fellowship is maintained by bringing one’s thoughts into obedience to the teaching of Jesus Christ, which constitutes obeying the commands of Ephesians 5:18 to be influenced by means of the Spirit and Colossians 3:16 to let the Word of Christ richly dwell in your soul. 2 Corinthians 10:3-5, “For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh, for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses. We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ.” Ephesians 5:18: “And do not permit yourselves to get into the habit of being drunk with wine because that is non-sensical behavior, but rather permit yourselves on a habitual basis to be influenced by means of the Spirit.” Colossians 3:16, “Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God.” Therefore, obedience to the Word of God will enable the believer to experience fellowship with God, which is synonymous with experiencing sanctification. 1 John 2:5, “But, whoever, at any time does observe conscientiously His Word, indeed, in this one, the love for the one and only God is accomplished. By means of this we can confirm that we are at this particular moment in fellowship with Him.” This obedience constitutes loving the Lord.

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John 14:15, “If you love Me, you will observe conscientiously My commandments.” So this battle rages between the flesh, our old sin nature and the Spirit. Your soul is a battleground. The battle in your soul is related to whether you will live for self in the old sin nature or live for God in the new nature. Paul relates this battle in his own life as a believer. Romans 7:14-25, “For we know that the Law is spiritual, but I am of flesh, sold into bondage to sin. For what I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I {would} like to {do} but I am doing the very thing I hate. But if I do the very thing I do not want {to do} I agree with the Law, {confessing} that the Law is good. So now, no longer am I the one doing it, but sin, which dwells in me. For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good {is} not. For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want. But if I am doing the very thing I do not want, I am no longer the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me. I find then the principle that evil is present in me, the one who wants to do good. For I joyfully concur with the law of God in the inner man, but I see a different law in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin which is in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, on the one hand I myself with my mind am serving the law of God, but on the other, with my flesh the law of sin.” “Ultimate sanctification” is the perfection of the church age believer’s spiritual life at the Rapture, i.e. resurrection of the church, which is the completion of the plan of God for the church age believer (1 Cor. 15:53-54; Gal. 6:8; 1 Pet. 5:10; John 6:40). It is the guarantee of a resurrection body and will be experienced by every believer regardless of their response in time to what God has done for them at salvation. 1 Corinthians 15:51-52, “Behold, I tell you a mystery; we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.” “Experiential” sanctification is experiencing the holiness or in other words manifesting the character of God through one’s thoughts, words and actions. 1 Peter 1:14-16, “As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance, but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior; because it is written, ‘YOU SHALL BE HOLY, FOR I AM HOLY.’”

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All three stages of sanctification refer to the process of conforming the believer into the image of Jesus Christ, which is the Father’s plan from eternity past. Romans 8:28-30, “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren; and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified.” So, we see that the sin nature resides in the physical body (Romans 6:6). Personal sin is the result of obeying the desires of the sin nature. Spiritual death is the result of possessing a sin nature and committing personal sin perpetuates this status. Therefore, the human race had three major problems that are interconnected, the sin nature, spiritual death and personal sins. Jesus Christ’s spiritual and physical deaths dealt with all three. Spiritual death is the product of the sin nature and personal sin perpetuates this status of spiritual death. The human race is under the status of real spiritual death because of the sin nature, which was passed down from Adam. Spiritual death is the consequence of not only possessing but also obeying the desires of the sin nature and committing personal sin. Instead, of the human race suffering the consequences of possessing a sin nature and obeying its desires and committing personal sin, Jesus Christ died spiritually in their place as their Substitute. Therefore, our Lord had to die spiritually to solve the problem of spiritual death in the human race. His spiritual death dealt with the consequences of the human race possessing a sin nature and obeying its desires. Adam acquired a sin nature when he disobeyed the Lord’s command to not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. This sin nature was passed down to his posterity, i.e. the human race through sex and resides in the genetic structure of every body of every human being. Therefore, the status of spiritual death was passed down to Adam’s posterity since spiritual death entered the human race through the sin nature. Spiritual death is the status of possessing a sin nature due to the imputation of Adam’s original sin in the Garden of Eden. Therefore, our Lord had to die physically to solve the problem of the sin nature, which resides in the body of every human being. Our Lord’s resurrection body replaces the sinful body of Adam. The believer will receive a resurrection body like Christ in order to replace their physical bodies that possess the sin nature, the Adamic body. Therefore, God the Father viewed His Son’s spiritual death as negating spiritual death in the human race and viewed His physical death as negating the sin nature. Personal sin perpetuated the status of real spiritual death and through the function of human volition is the product of the sin nature.

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Consequently, the sinner who is declared justified through faith in Christ is identified with Christ in His spiritual death in order to solve the sinner’s problem of real spiritual death whereas the sinner is identified with Christ in His physical death in order to solve the sinner’s problem with the old sin nature. Therefore, Christ’s spiritual and physical death resolved the human race’s problem with the sin nature, spiritual death and personal sins. The first Adam sinned. Then, he died spiritually while simultaneously acquiring sin nature and then he died physically (Genesis 5:5). The last Adam obeyed the Father, died spiritually as a Substitute for Adam and his posterity, and then died physically to break the power of the sin nature. Then, the last Adam was raised from physical death and received a resurrection body, which would be passed down to His spiritual posterity, those who trust in Him as Savior. In Romans 6, Paul follows this pattern. In Romans 6:3, he speaks of the justified sinner being identified with Christ in His spiritual death so as to solve the believer’s problem of being spiritually dead. Then, in Romans 6:4, he speaks of the justified sinner being identified with Christ in His physical death so as to solve the problem of possessing a sin nature. In Romans 6:5, the apostle teaches that the justified sinner is identified with Christ in His resurrection in order that the believer might receive a resurrection body like the last Adam, Christ so as to replace his sinful body. In Romans 6:6, the aorist tense of the verb sustauroo is a “constative” aorist describing in summary fashion the moment that the justified sinner’s old Adamic sin nature was crucified with Christ through the baptism of the Holy Spirit, which took place when they were declared justified by the Father through faith in His Son Jesus Christ. The passive voice means that the justified sinner’s old Adamic sin nature as the subject received the action of being crucified with Christ at Calvary by the unexpressed agency of God the Holy Spirit. Although the Holy Spirit is not explicitly mentioned as the agency as identifying the believer with Christ, Matthew 3:11, John 7:37-39, Acts 2 and 10 and 1 Corinthians 12:13 make clear that He was the member of the Trinity that performed this act. The indicative mood of the verb is “declarative” presenting this assertion as an unqualified statement of Bible doctrine. We will translate sustauroo , “ was crucified with .” Corrected translation thus far of Romans 6:6: “This we are very familiar with through instruction, namely, that our old man was crucified with…” Romans 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.”

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“Him ” is the dative masculine third person singular form of the personal pronoun autos ( au)tov$ ) (ow-tos), which does not appear in the original Greek text of Romans 6:5 but is correctly added by the translators since it is obviously implied. The word refers to Jesus Christ since its agrees in gender and number with its antecedent, which is the masculine singular form of the intensive personal pronoun autos , “ His ” that appears in Romans 6:5. It functions grammatically as a “dative of association” indicating that the justified sinner’s old Adamic sin nature is considered in the viewpoint of God as being associated with Christ in His crucifixion. We will translate autos , “ with Him .” Corrected translation thus far of Romans 6:6: “This we are very familiar with through instruction, namely, that our old man was crucified with Him…”

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Romans 6:6b-The Believer’s Sin Nature Has Been Deprived Of Its Power So That He Might Not Be Its Slave

Romans 6:6b teaches that the believer’s old Adamic sin nature has been crucified at the Cross in order that it might be deprived of its power so that the believer might not be its slave. Romans 6:1-7, “What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase? May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it? Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? 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. 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. 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, 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 for he who has died is freed from sin.” Corrected translation thus far of Romans 6:6: “This we are very familiar with through instruction, namely, that our old man was crucified with Him…” Romans 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.” “In order that ” is the conjunction hina ( i%na ), which is employed with the subjunctive mood of the verb katargeo ( katargevw ) (kat-arg-eh-o), “ might be done away with ” in order to form a purpose-result clause. The conjunction hina can introduce a purpose and a result clause. The former emphasizes the “intention” of the action of the main verb whereas the latter emphasizes the consequence of the verbal action that is “not intended.” Now sometimes the word can introduce a clause that indicates both purpose and result meaning that it indicates both “the intention and its sure accomplishment.” We saw this usage of hina in Romans 6:4. Romans 6:4, “Therefore, we have been buried with Him through baptism with respect to His physical death in order that just as Christ was raised from the dead ones through the glory of the Father, in the same way, we, ourselves will also walk in the realm of an extraordinary life.” In Romans 6:4, the purpose-result clause emphasizes that God intends to carry out the purpose for which He identified the believer with His Son in His physical death and burial through the baptism of the Spirit. Namely, in the same way that

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Christ was raised from the dead by means of the omnipotence of the Father, so also the believer will walk in newness of life. Romans 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.” Now, once again, in Romans 6:6, Paul employs the conjunction hina to introduce a purpose-result clause. It emphasizes that God carried out His purpose for which He crucified the justified sinner’s old Adamic sin nature with Christ on the Cross of Calvary, which is that the sin nature might be deprived of its power so that the justified sinner might no longer be its slave. The purpose-result clause emphasizes that it is an accomplished fact that the justified sinner’s old Adamic sin nature was crucified with Christ and that the old Adamic sin nature has been deprived of its power in relation to the justified sinner. It emphasizes that this is not only God’s viewpoint of the justified sinner’s old Adamic sin nature but also what He has done regarding it through the baptism of the Spirit. Therefore, we will translate hina , “ in order that .” Corrected translation thus far of Romans 6:6: “This we are very familiar with through instruction, namely, that our old man was crucified with Him in order that…” Romans 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.” “Our body of sin ” is composed of the articular nominative neuter singular form of the noun soma ( sw~ma ) (so-mah), “ our body ” and the articular genitive feminine singular form of the noun hamartia ( a(martiva ) (ham-ar-tee-ah), “ of sin .” Let’s take a look in detail at both of these words. First, let’s study the noun soma . The original definition of soma is uncertain. It first appears in Homer meaning a dead body of a man or animal, corpse or carcass. It retained this meaning into the 5th century B.C., when it began to be used in the sense of torso, the whole body and by extension the whole person (Herodotus 2, 66, 4). In the pre-Socratic writers it has the meaning of element, figure, corresponding to the basic sense of the bodily. As the idea developed of the soul alongside of the body, the body came to be regarded as a chain or grave, that which is mortal as distinct form the immortal soul. These ideas were further developed in Plato. The body is only the abode of the pre-existent soul. Death frees the soul from the body (Phdr. 64c, 67a; Grg. 524b). The picture of the body was also applied to the cosmos. The latter is ruled and directed by the divine soul. Zeus conceals everything in himself and lets it all proceed from himself (Orphicorum Fragmenta 21a).

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Long before Plato the idea of kinship between the human body and the cosmos came to expression. That the cosmos is a living unity, an organic creature is also asserted. Shortly before Plato Democritus formulated his famous principle in Fr. 34 that man is a microcosm. If in looser statements the cosmos is depicted after the pattern of man, in philosophical thought man is understood in terms of the cosmos. The common idea that the elements of the human body are taken from the cosmos (Xenophon Mem. I, 4, 8; Plato Phileb. 29a-e, where the cosmos is expressly said to be first. In Aristotle soma is, of course, primarily the human body, whether with a head or as the trunk contrasted with the head (Probl. 2, 6, p. 867a, 4 f). It is composed of different things, and mixture characterizes it. In contrast to Plato, however, the body is primary and is viewed as existing before the soul (Pol. VII, 15, p. 1334b, 20f ). But this does not mean that it is superior, with the soul the eminent part (Gen. An. II, 1, p. 731b, 28 f). Aristotle also used the soma in the sense of an organism to explain the character of the state (Pol. 1, 2; 5, 2). He also used it of the “elements.” The Stoics continued to maintain the traditional dichotomy of body and soul. Strictly speaking, Epictetus drew a distinction between the soul and the flesh, rather than the body. The soul is the animating principle, whose seat can be the head just as much as the heart. The soul permeates the whole body and conveys its sense impressions. But the basic idea of wholeness in soma remained decisive. Even the Stoic philosopher-emperor Marcus Aurelius could say of the tripartite conception of man: “There are three parts of which you are composed: body, pneuma (spirit) and nous (mind, reason)”. Chryssipus employed soma in its normal usage where it is the body as distinct from the soul (Fr. 471). The ekklesia was thought of as a soma (Chysippus. Fr. 367). The cosmos is also a constituted soma of this kind, though strictly it belongs to the first group. In Stoicism, too, it is a living entity. As such it is a perfect soma whose unity is everywhere given special emphasis. It is not only created by God but also governed by Him as the world-soul. It is the dwelling of gods and men. Indeed the cosmos is God. Soma was used in later Stoicism for the human body, the head being the most important member. It was also used in later Stoicism for the divine body of heaven. Plutarch who was a collector various traditions thought of soma as the human body or just the trunk as distinct from the head. Then it is the person, especially corporeally, an object of desire erotically. It could even be man’s ego. In Plutarch the body is three-dimensional and limited. Soma was also used of music in regards to its structure.

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Caesar is said to be clothed with the power of the army hos soma , and Galba is called upon to take over leadership and to offer himself to the Gauls as to a strong body seeking a head. Liddell and Scott lists the following (Greek-English Lexicon New Edition, page 1749): (1) Body (2) The living body (3) Body opposed to spirit and soul (4) Animal body (5) Civic rights (6) A person, human being (7) Generally, a body, i.e. any corporeal substance (8) Element, metallic substance (9) Math. Figure of three dimensions, solid (10) The body or whole of a thing, especially of complete parts of the body. There is no Hebrew equivalent in the Old Testament corresponding to the Greek idea of soma. In the Septuagint, soma is used to denote the range of ideas conveyed by the Hebrew basar ( rc*B*), “flesh,” signifying man in his individual corporeality. This is distinct from sarx , “flesh,” denoting man or even humanity in their creatureliness. Soma can mean corpse (1 S. 31:10, 12), dead body (Dt. 21:23; Is. 5:25) and even back (1 K. 14:9; Is. 38:17). But the basic meaning is the body in the sense of the whole person (cf. Le. 15:11, 16, 19; 16:4; 19:28). Soma in the Old Testament has virtually the sense of person, though this is not to be confused with personality. There is no sense of his standing at a distance form himself or regarding his corporeality as something, which can finally be parted from. Even angels have somata (Ezek. 1:11, 23; Dan. 10:6), thus both earthly existence and heavenly existence are characterized by a body. Soma , then, does not suggest an earthly sphere in contrast to heavenly. Nor, is there an anthropological dualism in the Old Testament canon, which would oppose the soul or mind to the body as something of higher value. Soma in the Greek New Testament reflects the wide range of meaning, which it had in Greek generally as well as in Old Testament thought. It means corpse in Mt. 27:52; Lk. 17:37. It is used of the body of Jesus (Mt. 27:58; Mk. 15:43; Lk. 23:52; 23:55; Jn. 19:31). The thought that a dead body can be raised to life (Mt. 27:52) stands behind the expression “ temple of His body ” ( naos tou somatos autou ) (Jn. 2:21). This is the only instance in the Johannine writings where soma does not mean dead body or slave (cf. Rev. 18:13). It is notable that soma is never used in the New Testament for in inorganic body. The body experiences sickness and healing (Mk. 5:29) or that it needs food and clothing (Jam. 2:16). This is also keeping with its common usage. The formula for washing the body in Hebrews 10:22 is technical. Along the lines of Old Testament thinking the body is regarded as that in which a man has his true life and proves himself and will one day come to heaven or the lake of fire.

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The soul animates the body and the body is separated from the soul at death. The man is called soma in his experience of death and resurrection. The emphasis, however, is on the fact that Jesus consciously offered up His body in sacrifice. This is a new use for which there are scarcely any parallels. Human existence-even in the sphere of the pneuma -is a bodily, somatic experience. It is un-Pauline like to think of the body merely as a figure or form. Romans 12:1 uses soma of the whole person submitting himself in obedience to God’s will. It is used of the physical body in 1 Corinthians 5:3; 7:34. He refers to the trichotomous state of the believer in 1 Thessalonians 5:23. The word is used metaphorically for the relationship between Christ and the church and the relation of the members of the church to each other in 1 Corinthians 12:12-27. The body is mentioned in connection with sex in Romans 4:19 and in 1 Corinthians 7:4. Bodily acts affect not only the individual act of sin but the whole person to his innermost being (cf. 1 C. 6:15, 19 f.). The believer’s physical body will die but will receive a resurrection body (1 C. 15:35-57). The church age believer’s resurrection body will be like the resurrection body of Christ (Phlp. 3:21). The resurrected body of the Lord Jesus Christ serves as the model for the resurrected body of the believer. Every church age believer will receive a resurrection body at the rapture of the church (1 John 3:2). The omnipotence of the Lord Jesus Christ will be responsible for the believer’s new resurrection body according to Philippians 3:21. The resurrection of the church is a part of the mystery doctrine for the church age (1 Cor. 15:51-53). We will have a resurrection body like our Lord’s (1 John 3:2). The same power that raised the humanity of Christ from the dead will raise every church age believer from the dead at the Rapture (Rom. 8:11). The believer’s physical body is a body of humiliation compared to the resurrection body, which is called the “body of His glory” (Phil. 3:21). The resurrection body will be composed of flesh and bones and will not have blood as the physical body now has (Lk. 24:39), but will be composed of flesh, bones and spirit. The resurrection body will have a different molecular structure which will enable it to walk through walls as our Lord did in John 20:19. It will be able to leave the earth vertically as our Lord did in Acts 1:9. It will be able to travel through space in an instant and appear in heaven. The believer will still be able to eat and drink in a resurrection body (Luke 24:42-43). The resurrection body will never get tired or sick and will minus the old sin nature. It will be a spiritual body with flesh and bones (1 Cor. 15:35-50). It will be an imperishable body and not like the one believer’s now have (1 Cor. 15:52). The resurrection body will be immortal (1 Cor. 15:53). The believer’s resurrection body is a result of our Lord’s victory over death at the Cross (1 Cor. 15:57). Our Lord delivered us from the fear of death (Heb. 2:14-

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15). The believer in a resurrection body will no longer be able to sin because it will be minus the old sin nature which tempts the believer to commit acts of sin-mental, verbal and overt. The resurrection body will be an eternal monument to the grace policy of God. All church age believers will receive a resurrection body regardless of whether or not they were a winner in time. The only requirement for receiving a resurrection body is believing on the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation. Faith alone in Christ alone is the means of receiving a resurrection body. It only takes 1 non- meritorious decision to receive a resurrection body. Paul uses the Stellar Universe analogy to illustrate the fact that there will be varieties of resurrection bodies in heaven (1 Cor. 15:40-41). The resurrection body will be totally governed by the Spirit, made alive and sustained by the eternal living power of the Spirit. The Christology of the New Testament affirms that during His First Advent Christ had a human body (Col. 2:9; cf. 1:19; Phlp. 2:7; 1 Ti. 3:16). It is spoken of literally during His ministry He spoke of the “ temple of His body ” (J. 2:21). Joseph of Arimathea asked for his literal physical body in Matthew 27:58. The woman did not find it when they went to the tomb (Lk. 24:3; cf. John 20:12). Figuratively, the Lord Jesus spoke of the bread of the Last Supper as representative of His body (Mt. 26:26). The literal and figurative intersect on other occasions (1 C. 10:16). The noun soma is used of the church, which as the human body has diversity among its members (R. 12:4 f.; 1 C. 12:12 f.). Christ is said to be the Head of the Body (Eph. 1:22; 4:15; 5:23; Col. 1:18; 2:19) and each church age believer is a member of His body (Rm. 12:4-5; 1 C. 12:27). The Analytical Greek Lexicon Revised lists the following NT meanings (pages 395-396): (1) The body of an animal (2) A living body (3) A person, individual (4) A dead body, corpse, carcass (5) The human body considered as the seat and occasion of moral imperfection, as inducing to sin through its appetites and passions. (6) Generally, a body, material substance (7) The substance, reality (8) Metaphorically, the aggregate body of believers, the body of the church The New Thayer’s Greek-English Lexicon lists the following (page 611): (1) The body both of men and of animals (2) The name is transferred to the bodies of plants and of stars, celestial bodies (3) Used of a number of men closely united into one society or family as it were; a social, ethical, mystical body (4) The thing itself which casts a shadow. Bauer, Gingrich and Danker lists the following (A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, pages 799-800): (1) Body of man or animal (2) Dead body, corpse (3) The living body (4) Plural slaves (5)

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Bodies of plants and stars (6) Of the body that casts a shadow (7) The Christian community, the church as a unified body. Louw and Nida have compiled the following New Testament meanings (Greek- English Lexicon of the New Testament Based on Semantic Domains, volume 2): (1) The physical body of persons, animals or plants either dead or alive – ‘body’ (page 93). (2) A person as a physical being, including natural desires – ‘self, physical being’ (page 105). (3) Believers in Christ who are joined together as a group, with the implication of each having a distinctive function within the group – ‘congregation, Christian group, church’ (page 127). (4) A slave as property to be sold, with the probable implication of commerce – ‘slave’ (page 741). (5) An entity which corresponds to an archetype or foreshadowing – ‘reality, corresponding reality’ (page 593). Vine's Expository Dictionary of Biblical Words, “ Soma is ‘the body as a whole, the instrument of life,’ whether of man living, e. g., (Matt. 6:22), or dead, (Matt. 27:52); or in resurrection, (1 Cor. 15:44); or of beasts, (Heb. 13:11); of grain, (1 Cor. 15:37-38); of the heavenly hosts, (1 Cor. 15:40). In (Rev. 18:13) it is translated ‘slaves.’ In its figurative uses the essential idea is preserved. Sometimes the word stands, by synecdoche, for ‘the complete man,’ (Matt. 5:29; 6:22; Rom. 12:1; Jas. 3:6; Rev. 18:13). Sometimes the person is identified with his or her ‘body,’ (Acts 9:37; 13:36), and this is so even of the Lord Jesus, (John 19:40) with (42). The ‘body’ is not the man, for he himself can exist apart from his ‘body,’ (2 Cor. 12:2-3). The ‘body’ is an essential part of the man and therefore the redeemed are not perfected till the resurrection, (Heb. 11:40); no man in his final state will be without his ‘body,’ (John 5:28-29; Rev. 20:13). The word is also used for physical nature, as distinct from pneuma , ‘the spiritual nature,’ e.g., (1 Cor. 5:3), and from psuche , ‘the soul,’ e.g., (1 Thes. 5:23). ‘Soma , ‘body,’ and pneuma , ‘spirit,’ may be separated; pneuma and psuche , ‘soul,’ can only be distinguished’ (Cremer). It is also used metaphorically, of the mystic body of Christ, with reference to the whole church, e. g., (Eph. 1:23; Col. 1:18, 22, 24); also of a local church, (1 Cor. 12:27).” Let’s now take a good look at hamartia . Liddell and Scott list the following meanings for hamartia (Greek-English Lexicon, New Edition, page 77): (1) A failure, fault (2) Error of judgment (3) Guilt, sin. The noun hamartia is used in the same way and was used very early on in the metaphorical or figurative sense. It conveyed the incorrect action’s origin and nature. The word often concerns itself with the action. In legal terminology and in philosophical language hamartia is a comprehensive term, which includes offenses of all types from simple misunderstandings to capital crimes.

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Any action deserving punishment or which must be atoned for is designated hamartia . In legal terminology the noun hamartia was used of deliberate offenses. Dr. Gunther in Colin Brown's Dictionary of New Testament Theology, states that “hamartia becomes a collective term with a relatively indefinite sense: offending against right feeling. It can mean anything from stupidity to law- breaking, anything that offends against the orthon , the right that does not conform to the dominant ethic, to the respect due to the social order and to the polis .” He also notes “hamartia is always used in the New Testament of man’s sin which is ultimately directed against God.” For the Greeks, guilt was rooted in man’s innermost being. Man knows that he is in trouble and is surrounded by fate and infatuation. Guilt is the cause of suffering as in the case of Oedipus. Both fate and guilt are bound together. The Greeks did not use hamartia of sin as in the Biblical sense since a firm Godward orientation of guilt and fate is entirely missing in the Greek mind. Hellenism destroyed the connection between guilt and fate. The Stoics intellectualized the concept of guilt and rationalized it as well. They contended that one can overcome guilt through better understanding and proper conduct. Of course, these doctrines are all based upon the faulty premise that man is inherently good. This of course contradicts the Bible’s estimation of the entire human race. The concept of sin is linguistically expressed in many ways in the Old Testament. Hamartia was first used as a religious term in the LXX, and was used most often used to translate the Hebrew word chatta'ah , pronounced ghatah -tah . The frequency in which, this word was used by the LXX translators to translate this Hebrew term was because along with hamartena , it has almost the same literal sense as the Hebrew chatta’ah . Chatta'ah is from the Hebrew verb chata' meaning, “to miss the mark or goal,” which is precisely the meaning of the verb’s cognate hamartano . This Hebrew verb in the Old Testament was used for sin against a fellow human being or a sin against God. It conveyed sinning in a general sense and also in a nonreligious sense or sin in a moral sense. Chatta'ah's flexibility in the Old Testament was transferred to hamartia in the LXX and from the LXX over into the New Testament. Almost all of the Hebrew terms for sin and guilt are covered in the New Testament Greek by the words hamartia and adikia . Thus, hamartia is used for the Hebrew ‘ awon , “harm, trouble, injustice, deceit,” and for the noun pesha’ , transgression, revolt.” There are a wide variety of words in the Old Testament used to express different types of sin. Unfortunately, this only slightly reflected in the English translations, which don’t bring out the distinctions between these various Hebrew

2008 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 92 terms. Regardless, although there is a diversity of meaning, there is unity within the total concept of sin that appears in the Old Testament. The Hebrew chatta’ah , “sin, sin offering,” assumed a prominent role in the Hebrew Bible. The inclusive aspect latent within this word is transferred in the LXX to the Greek term hamartia , which like chatta’th covers the entire spectrum of definitions found in many Hebrew words. Thus, hamartia reflects both diversity in meaning and unity of definition since it typifies the broad concept of sin in the Hebrew Bible. The noun hamartia appears 173 times in the Greek New Testament. The word appears the majority of the time in the book of Romans, followed by Hebrews, the Synoptics, 1 John and Acts. Hamartia signifies primarily a failure to achieve a standard whether culpable or unintentional in the broadest sense, both as deed and as the nature of the deed. The word hamartia is used in the plural for acts of personal sin, whether, mental, verbal or overt (Mt. 1:21; Mk. 2:10; Lk. 7:48; Jn. 8:24; Eph. 2:1; 1 Jn. 1:9). It is used in the singular at times for personal sin (Jn. 8:34; 16:8; 1 Jn. 1:7). The majority of the time that hamartia is employed in the singular it signifies the indwelling old Adamic sin nature, which is the source of personal sin (Jn. 8:34; Rm. 6:1-2; 1 Jn. 1:8). The Christian has been saved from the guilt and penalty of sin (Lk. 7:50; 1 Cor. 1:18; 2 Cor. 2:15; Eph. 2:5, 8; 2 Tim. 1:9) and is safe. The Christian is being saved from the habit and dominion of sin (Rom. 6:14; 8:2; 2 Cor. 3:18; Gal. 2:19-20; Phil. 1:19; 2:12-13; 2 Thess. 2:13). The New Thayer’s Greek-English Lexicon (pages 30-31): (1) A failing to hit the mark (2) An error of the understanding (3) A bad action, evil deed (4) Equivalent to to hamartein , a sinning, whether it occurs by omission or commission, in thought and feeling or in speech and action; the body as an instrument of sin (5) That which is done wrong, committed or resultant sin, an offence, a violation of the divine law in thought or in act (6) Error, craft (7) Some particular evil deed (8) Collectively, the complex or aggregate of sins committed either by a single person or by many (9) Abstract for the concrete. Vine's Expository Dictionary of Biblical Words, “ hamartia is, lit. ‘a missing of the mark,’ but this etymological meaning is largely lost sight of in the NT. It is the most comprehensive term for moral obliquity. It is used of ‘sin’ as (a) a principle or source of action, or an inward element producing acts, e. g., Rom 3:9; 5:12,13,20; 6:1, 2; 7:7 (abstract for concrete); 7:8 (twice), 9,11,13, ‘sin, that it might be shown to be sin,’ i. e., ‘sin became death to me, that it might be exposed in its heinous character’: in the last clause, ‘sin might become exceeding sinful,’ i. e., through the holiness of the Law, the true nature of sin was designed to be manifested to the conscience; (b) a governing principle or power, e. g., Rom 6:6, ‘(the body) of sin,’ here ‘sin’ is spoken of as an organized power, acting through

2008 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 93 the members of the body, though the seat of ‘sin’ is in the will (the body is the organic instrument); in the next clause, and in other passages, as follows, this governing principle is personified, e. g., Rom 5:21; 6:12,14,17; 7:11,14,17,20,23,25; 8:2; 1 Cor 15:56; Heb 3:13; 11:25; 12:4; James 1:15 (2nd part); (c) a generic term (distinct from specific terms such as No. 2 yet sometimes inclusive of concrete wrong doing, e. g., John 8:21,34,46; 9:41; 15:22,24; 19:11); in Rom 8:3, ‘God, sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh,’ lit., ‘flesh of sin,’ the flesh stands for the body, the instrument of indwelling ‘sin’ [Christ, preexistently the Son of God, assumed human flesh, ‘of the substance of the Virgin Mary’; the reality of incarnation was His, without taint of sin (for homoioma , ‘likeness,’], and as an offering for sin," i. e., ‘a sin offering’ (so the Sept., e. g., in Lev 4:32; 5:6,7,8,9), ‘condemned sin in the flesh,’ i. e., Christ, having taken human nature, ‘sin’ apart Heb 4:15, and having lived a sinless life, died under the condemnation and judgment due to our ‘sin’; for the generic sense see further, e. g., Heb 9:26; 10:6,8,18; 13:11; 1 John 1:7,8; 3:4 (1st part; in the 2nd part, ‘sin’ is defined as ‘lawlessness,’ RV), 8,9; in these verses the KJV use of the verb to commit is misleading; not the committal of an act is in view, but a continuous course of ‘sin,’ as indicated by the RV, ‘doeth.’ The apostle's use of the present tense of poieo , ‘to do,’ virtually expresses the meaning of prasso , ‘to practice,’ which John does not use (it is not infrequent in this sense in Paul's Epp. e. g., Rom 1:32, RV; 2:1; 5:21; 4:9); 1 Peter 4:1 (singular in the best texts), lit, ‘has been made to cease from sin,’ i. e., as a result of suffering in the flesh, the mortifying of our members, and of obedience to a Savior who suffered in flesh. Such no longer lives in the flesh, ‘to the lusts of men, but to the will of God’; sometimes the word is used as virtually equivalent to a condition of ‘sin,’ e. g., John 1:29, ‘the sin (not sins) of the world’; 1 Cor 15:17; or a course of ‘sin,’ characterized by continuous acts, e. g., 1 Thess 2:16; in 1 John 5:16 (2nd part) the RV marg., is probably to be preferred, ‘there is sin unto death,’ not a special act of ‘sin,’ but the state or condition producing acts; in v. 17, ‘all unrighteousness is sin’ is not a definition of ‘sin’ (as in 3:4), it gives a specification of the term in its generic sense; (d) a sinful deed, an act of ‘sin,’ e. g., Matt 12:31; Acts 7:60; James 1:15 (1st part); 2:9; 4:17; 5:15,20; 5:16 (1st part). Notes: (1) Christ is predicated as having been without ‘sin’ in every respect, e.g., (a), (b), (c) above, 2 Cor 5:21 (1st part); 1 John 3:5; John 14:30; (d) John 8:46; Heb 4:15; 1 Peter 2:22. (2) In Heb 9:28 (2nd part) the reference is to a ‘sin’ offering. (3) In 2 Cor 5:21, ‘Him... He made to be sin,’ indicates that God dealt with Him as He must deal with ‘sin,’ and that Christ fulfilled what was typified in the guilt offering. (4) For the phrase ‘man of sin’ in 2 Thess 2:3.” A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature (pages 43-44): (1) The action itself as well as its result, every departure

2008 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 94 from the way of righteousness, both human and divine (2) In Johannine literature hamartia is conceived as a condition or characteristic quality, sinfulness and is opposed to aletheia , truth. (3) Paul thinks of sin almost in personal terms as a ruling power; as personal principle it dwells in man (4) In Hebrew sin appears as the power that deceives men and leads them to destruction, whose influence and activity can be ended only by sacrifices (5) Special sins. The Analytical Greek Lexicon Revised (page 17): (1) Error; offence, sin (2) A principle of cause of sin (3) Proneness to sin, sinful propensity (4) Guilt or imputation of sin (5) A guilty subject, sin-offering, expiatory victim. Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament Based on Semantic Domains (volume 2): (1) To act contrary to the will and law of God – ‘to sin, to engage in wrongdoing, sin’ (page 773). (2) A state of sinfulness as an integral element of someone’s nature – ‘sinfulness, being evil’ (page 755). (3) The moral consequence of having sinned – ‘guilt, sin’ (page 776). In the Greek New Testament, the word hamartia is used in the plural for acts of personal sin, whether, mental, verbal or overt (Mt. 1:21; Mk. 2:10; Lk. 7:48; Jn. 8:24; Eph. 2:1; 1 Jn. 1:9). It is used in the singular at times for personal sin (Jn. 8:34; 16:8; 1 Jn. 1:7). The majority of the time that hamartia is employed in the singular it signifies the indwelling old Adamic sin nature, which is the source of personal sin (Jn. 8:34; Rm. 6:1-2; 1 Jn. 1:8). In Romans 6:6, the article preceding hamartia is “anaphoric” meaning it indicates that it was used in a previous context or that its synonym was used in the previous context. Here the article points back to hamartia synonym, which ho palaios anthropos , “ the old man ,” which referred to the sin nature with emphasis upon the sin nature’s origin, namely, Adam. Therefore, the noun hamartia in Romans 6:6 is a reference to the sin nature. The noun hamartia is not in the plural but rather in the singular and is articular indicating the sin nature is in view rather than personal sins. In other words, the word in the singular emphasizes sin as an entity and not sins in general. The noun refers to the inherent propensity in mankind to commit mental, verbal and overt acts of sin. The articular construction also emphasizes that Paul is speaking of sin as an entity emphasizing the underlying root cause of personal sins or the principle of sin. The word is modified by the articular genitive form of the noun hamartia , “sin ,” which functions as an “attributive genitive” meaning that it specifies an attribute or an innate quality of the head noun, which is soma , “ body .” This type of genitive expresses quality like an adjective but with more sharpness and distinctness. Thus, it emphasizes the “sinfulness” of the human body or in other

2008 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 95 words, that it is “inherently sinful” because it is corrupted by the sin nature, which resides in its genetic structure. This would agree with what we see in our own bodies, which deteriorate with age and eventually ceased to function and decompose. This is further indication that the sin nature resides in the genetic structure of the physical body. The fact that the sin nature resides in the genetic structure of the physical body is why the justified sinner needs a resurrection body to replace his sinful body. This is why Christ had to die physically and rise from the dead in a resurrection body because the sin nature resides in the human body. Therefore, the human body is inherently sinful, which is the result of the curse that the Lord put on Adam and his posterity (See Genesis 3:18-19). Douglas Moo and others disagree with this interpretation. Commenting on the usage of the words soma and hamartia in Romans 6:6, Douglas Moo writes, “The ‘body’ to which Paul refers is naturally often understood to refer to the physical body. If so, the qualification ‘of sin’ would not mean that the body is inherently sinful (a Greek notion rejected by the Bible) but that the body is particularly susceptible to and easily dominated by, sin…There is little evidence that Paul conceived of the physical body as the source or reigning seat of sin. However, we should not go so far as to say simply that ‘body of sin’ means ‘man in his fallenness.’ Paul chooses soma to connote the person as the instrument of contact with the world, a choice especially appropriate in a context that speaks of crucifixion. It is that ‘aspect’ of the person which ‘acts’ in the world and which can be directed by something else: either by that person’s new, ‘higher nature’ or by ‘sin.’ Here, then, Paul wants to say that our capacities to interact with the world around have been rescued from the domination of sin.” (The Epistle to the Romans, pages 375-376; William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company; Grand Rapids, Michigan/Cambridge, U.K.). Some like Dodd define soma in Romans 6:6 as “the self as the organization of the sinful impulses inherent in the flesh.” Murray, Lloyd Jones and others contend that it means that the body is dominated by sin. The body is sin’s body; it belongs to sin; sin has made it its own. (Cited by Morris, The Epistle to the Romans; page 251; W. B. Eerdmans; Inter- Varsity Press) Mounce contends that the expression to soma tes hamartias , “ the body of sin ” refers “not to the physical body as inherently sinful but to the whole person under the control of sin.” (The New American Commentary, volume 27, Romans, page 151; Broadman and Holman Publishers). J.R.W. Stott interprets as “our fallen, self-centered nature” (Romans [Downers Grove: InterVarsity, 1994], page 175).

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Morris contends that the expression “ body of sin ” in Romans 6:6 refers to the human body, which so easily responds to sinful impulses. As we can see from Moo’s statement, in order for him to come to his interpretation of this expression “ body of sin ” he must interpret soma , “ body ” as being “the person as the instrument of contact with the world.” If he doesn’t then as he even noted, then this expression means that the body is inherently sinful. The problem with Moo’s interpretation is that soma is never used this way by the apostle in all of his writings. In the writings of the Paul, the noun soma refers to the following: (1) The human body whether the body of mortals or Christ’s human body (Romans 1:24; 4:19; 6:6, 12; 7:24; 8:10, 11, 13, 24; 12:1; 1 Corinthians 5:3; 6:13, 15, 18, 19, 20; 7:4, 34; 9:27; 12:14, 15, 16, 17, 18; 13:3; 15:35, 40, 44; 2 Corinthians 4:10; 5:6, 8, 10; 12:2; Galatians 6:17; Ephesians 5:28; Philippians 3:21; Colossians 2:11, 23; 1 Thessalonians 5:23; Hebrews 10:5, 10, 22) (2) Figuratively for the body of Christ (Romans 12:4, 5; 1 Corinthians 10:16, 17; 12:12, 13, 20, 22, 23, 24, 25, 27; Ephesians 1:23; 2:16; 4:4, 12, 16; 5:23, 30; Colossians 1:22, 24; 2:17, 19; 3:15; Hebrews 13:3 (3) Figuratively for the Person of Christ in the Lord’s Supper (1 Corinthians 11:24, 27, 29) (4) Resurrection body of the believer (1 Corinthians 15:37, 38, 44) (5) Moon, stars and planets (1 Corinthians 15:40). (6) Bodies of animals (Hebrews 13:11). Furthermore, up to this point in the book of Romans, soma has always been used with reference to the human body by Paul with no reference whatsoever that it denotes the person as the instrument of contact with the world. Romans 1:24, “Therefore, God gave them over in the lust of their hearts to impurity, namely, they degraded their bodies between themselves.” Romans 4:19, “In fact, without becoming weak with respect to his faith, after careful consideration and observation he was thoroughly aware of his own physical body as now being sexually impotent while already being approximately a hundred years of age as well as the impotence of Sarah’s womb.” Also, the noun soma is used in Romans 6:12, 7:4, 24, 8:10, 11, 13 and 23 and in every instance it refers to the human body and not the person as the instrument of contact with the world. Romans 6:12, “Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its lusts.” Romans 7:24, “Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death?” Notice that Paul calls the human body, the “ body of this death ” meaning that the sin nature is the reason why human beings are born spiritually dead and eventually die physically.

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Romans 8:10, “If Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, yet the spirit is alive because of righteousness.” Notice again, Paul says that the “body is dead” because of the sin nature. Paul could not be more explicit. Romans 8:11, “But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.” Paul not only teaches that the sin nature resides in the genetic structure of the human body but also the Holy Spirit indwells the believer’s body and will raise the believer’s body at the resurrection. Romans 8:13, “for if you are living according to the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body , you will live.” Romans 8:23, “And not only this, but also we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body .” Although an excellent and able expositor of the Scriptures, Moo’s exegesis in this particular instance is strained to say the least. It seems that maybe there were some preconceived notions as to what the body of sin is, rather than letting the text speaks for itself. The body is inherently sinful. As we noted earlier, the fact that the sin nature resides in the human body is further indicated in that Jesus Christ’s human body was not the result of the sexual union between Mary and Joseph but rather the result of the Holy Spirit impregnating Mary (Luke 1:35; cf. Hebrews 10:5-7). He could not have a human body that was the result of human copulation because the sin nature is passed down in this manner and resides in the body. This is significant in that it makes clear that Jesus Christ did not have the principle of the sin nature residing in Him since the Holy Spirit impregnated Mary. He did not have a human father who could pass down the sin nature in sex. This makes clear that our Lord was not under the headship of Adam like the rest of the human race. Every member of the human race is under the headship of Adam due to physical birth. However, Jesus Christ did not have a sin nature because He did not receive a human body as a result of human copulation. Now, because He did not have a human father and that His human body did not have a sin nature residing in it, it is then, clear that the rest of the human race are sinners due to the fact that they possess a sin nature that resides in their physical bodies since it is passed down through copulation. The human body of Adam became corrupted as a result of his disobedience, which he passed down to his posterity.

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Also, the noun hamartia could also be interpreted as a “genitive of production,” which takes place when the genitive substantive “produces” the noun to which it stands related. Therefore, we could translate the expression to soma tes hamartias , “the body, which produces sin.” Either way you slice it, the text makes clear that the sin nature is resident in the physical body, thus making the human body inherently sinful. The fall of Adam not only affected his fellowship with God but also it effected his environment and his physical body! Genesis 3:18-19, “Both thorns and thistles it shall grow for you; And you will eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your face you will eat bread, till you return to the ground, because from it you were taken; For you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” The physical body of human beings eventually ceases to function and decompose into the dust of ground because they are inherently sinful. They are inherently sinful because of the curse the Lord put on Adam and his posterity. Therefore, in Romans 6:6, the noun soma is obviously a reference to the human body. In Romans 6:6, commenting on the meaning of the noun soma in Romans 6:6, Thayer writes, “Since the body is the instrument of the soul (2 Corinthians 5:10) and its members the instruments of righteousness or of iniquity (Romans 6:13, 19), soma tes hamartias , the body subject to, the thrall of, sin” (The New Thayer’s Greek-English Lexicon, page 611). Bauer, Gingrich and Danker say that soma in Romans 6:6 refers to man’s mortal body “because it is subject to sin and death” (A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, page 799). The articular construction of the nominative form of the noun soma indicates that the word is functioning as the “nominative subject” in this hina purpose-result clause meaning that it is receiving the action of the passive form of the verb katargeo , “ might be done away with .” Therefore, we will translate the expression to soma tes hamartias , “ the sinful body .” Corrected translation thus far of Romans 6:6: “This we are very familiar with through instruction, namely, that our old man was crucified with Him in order that the sinful body…” Romans 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.” “Might be done away with ” is the third person singular aorist passive subjunctive form of the verb katargeo ( katargevw ) (kat-arg-eh-o), which is a compound word composed of the verb argeo , “to be idle, linger, delay” whose

2008 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 99 meaning is intensified by the preposition kata , thus the word literally means, “to reduce to inactivity.” In classical Greek, the verb means, “to render inactive, to put out of use, to cancel, bring to nothing” or “do away with.” It can be used in a wide variety of contexts and situations (Liddell and Scott, page 908). In the Septuagint, katargeo appears only in the book of Ezra (4:21, 23; 5:5; 6:8) where it describes the work of those who were hindering or interrupting the work of rebuilding the temple. The verb appears twenty seven times in the Greek New Testament and six times in Romans alone. Romans 3:3, “So then, what if-and let us assume that it’s true for the sake of argument some did not believe, then will their unbelief render inoperative God’s faithfulness? No!” Romans 3:31, “Are we then attempting to render useless at the present time the Law by means of faith? Absolutely not! On the contrary, we do uphold the Law.” Romans 4:14, “For, if-and let us assume that it’s true for the sake of argument, those who by means of obedience to the (Mosaic) Law are, as an eternal spiritual truth, heirs, then faith is useless and in addition, the promise is meaningless.” It appears once in the Gospels in Luke 13:7 where an unproductive fig tree is said to make the ground in which it grows “unproductive” or “condemned to inactivity.” The Exegetical Dictionary of the New Testament provides the following list of meanings for the verb in the New Testament, “make ineffective, destroy, render powerless, annul, use up, liberate, set free, perish, cease, be separated, be cut off” (volume 2, page 267). Louw and Nida list the following New Testament meanings for the verb katargeo : (1) to cause to cease to exist – ‘to cause to come to an end, to cause to become nothing, to put an end to’ (volume 2, page 160). (2) to cause to cease to happen – ‘to put a stop to’ (volume 2, page 166). (3) to render ineffective the power or force of something – ‘to invalidate, to abolish, to cause not to function’ (volume 2, page 683) (Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament Based on Semantic Domains). Bauer, Gingrich and Danker list the following meanings: (1) make ineffective, powerless, idle (2) abolish, wipe out, set aside (3) be released from an association with someone or something having nothing more to do with (A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, page 417). The Analytical Greek Lexicon Revised lists the following meanings for the verb katargeo , “to render useless or unproductive, occupy unprofitably; to render

2008 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 100 powerless; to make empty and unmeaning; to render null, to abrogate, cancel; to bring to an end; to destroy, annihilate; to free from, dissever from (page 219). The New Thayer’s Greek-English Lexicon lists the following meanings: (1) to render idle, unemployed, inactive, inoperative (2) to cause to cease, put an end to, to away with, annul, abolish; passive, to cease, pass away, be done away; of persons, to be severed from, separated from, discharged from, loosed from, anyone; to terminate all intercourse with one (page 336). Vine writes, “ Katargeo , lit., ‘to reduce to inactivity’ ( kata , ‘down,’ argos , ‘inactive’), is translated ‘abolish’ in Eph 2:15 and 2 Tim 1:10, in the RV only in 1 Cor 15:24,26. It is rendered ‘is abolished’ in the KJV of 2 Cor 3:13, the RV corrects to ‘was passing away’ (marg., ‘was being done away’). In this and similar words not loss of being is implied, but loss of well being. The barren tree was cumbering the ground, making it useless for the purpose of its existence, Luke 13:7, the unbelief of the Jews could not ‘make of none effect’ the faithfulness of God, Rom 3:3; the preaching of the gospel could not ‘make of none effect’ the moral enactments of the Law, 3:31; the Law could not make the promise of ‘none effect,’ 4:14; 3:17; the effect of the identification of the believer with Christ in His death is to render inactive his body in regard to sin, Rom 6:6; the death of a woman's first husband discharges her from the law of the husband, that is, it makes void her status as his wife in the eyes of the law, 7:2; in that sense the believer has been discharged from the Law, 7:6; God has chosen things that are not ‘to bring to nought things that are,’ i. e., to render them useless for practical purposes, 1 Cor 1:28; the princes of this world are ‘brought to nought,’ i. e., their wisdom becomes ineffective, 2:6; the use for which the human stomach exists ceases with man's death, 6:13; knowledge, prophesyings, and that which was in part were to be ‘done away,’ 1 Cor 13:8,10, i. e., they were to be rendered of no effect after their temporary use was fulfilled; when the apostle became a man he did away with the ways of a child, v. 11; God is going to abolish all rule and authority and power, i. e., He is going to render them inactive, 1 Cor 15:24; the last enemy that shall be abolished, or reduced to inactivity, is death, v. 26; the glory shining in the face of Moses, ‘was passing away,’ 2 Cor 3:7, the transitoriness of its character being of a special significance; so in vv. 11,13; the veil upon the heart of Israel is ‘done away’ in Christ, v. 14; those who seek justification by the Law are ‘severed’ from Christ, they are rendered inactive in relation to Him, Gal 5:4; the essential effect of the preaching of the Cross would become inoperative by the preaching of circumcision, 5:11; by the death of Christ the barrier between Jew and Gentile is rendered inoperative as such, Eph 2:15; the Man of Sin is to be reduced to inactivity by the manifestation of the Lord's Parousia with His people, 2 Thess 2:8; Christ has rendered death inactive for the believer, 2 Tim 1:10, death becoming the means of a more glorious life, with Christ; the Devil is to be reduced to inactivity

2008 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 101 through the death of Christ, Heb 2:14. (Vine’s Expository Dictionary of Biblical Words, Copyright (c)1985, Thomas Nelson Publishers) In Romans 6:6, the verb katargeo is used in relation to the believer’s old Adamic sin nature being crucified with Christ and means, “deprived of its power.” William Sanday and Arthur Headlam give an excellent definition of the word’s use in Romans 6:6, “reduced to a condition of absolute impotence and inaction as if it were dead.” (A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Epistle to the Romans, page 158; Fifth Edition. T. & T. Clark Publishers 1905). In Romans 6:6, the verb katargeo does “not” mean that the old Adamic sin nature has been permanently eradicated since that will not take place until the believer receives his resurrection body (1 Corinthians 15:50-58). Rather, the word means that the believer’s old Adamic sin nature has been “deprived of its power” over the believer since it was crucified with Christ in His death, which broke its power. Some translate the word “rendered powerless” or “impotent.” However, the old Adamic sin nature still has the ability to exercise power over the believer since it will not be permanently eradicated until the believer receives his resurrection body. Some translate it “rendered inoperative.” However, the old Adamic sin nature is still in operation in the believer since it resides in the genetic structure of his physical body. It is more accurate to translate the word as “deprived of its power” since the crucifixion of the believer’s old Adamic sin nature with Christ has deprived the sin nature of its power over the believer and gives the believer an alternative to obeying the sin nature. In Romans 6:6, Paul is speaking of the ruling power of the sin nature being “positionally” broken and not “permanently” or “experientially.” By “positionally,” I mean that God views the believer’s old Adamic sin nature as having been deprived of its power over the believer as a result of the Holy Spirit identifying him with Christ’s crucifixion (Romans 6:6; Galatians 2:20). By “positional,” I am referring to what God has done for the church age believer when He identified him with Christ in His crucifixion or in other words, when He crucified the believer’s old Adamic sin nature with Christ at the Cross. It also means that God views church age believer’s old Adamic sin nature as having been crucified with Christ as a result of the baptism of the Spirit. The fact that the believer’s old Adamic sin nature was crucified with Christ through the baptism of the Spirit sets up the potential to experience this deliverance from the power of the sin nature in time. It also provides the believer with the guarantee of experiencing permanently deliverance from the power of the sin nature when they receive a resurrection body at the rapture of the church. The believer’s sin nature will not be permanently eradicated until he physically dies or when the rapture of the church takes place when the believer will receive a

2008 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 102 resurrection body to replace the body he now has, which contains the old sin nature (See 1 Corinthians 15:51-57; Philippians 3:20-21). The believer can experience this victory and deliverance by appropriating by faith the teaching of the Word of God that he has been crucified, died, buried, raised and seated with Christ (Romans 6:11-23; 8:1-17; Galatians 2:20; Colossians 3:5-17). Prior to salvation, the believer was enslaved to the lust patterns of the old Adamic sin nature (See Ephesians 2:1-3). At the moment of salvation, through the baptism of the Spirit, the omnipotence of the Spirit identified the believer with Christ in His crucifixion, death, burial, resurrection and session (See Romans 6:4- 7; Ephesians 2:4-6). Also, at the moment of salvation, God gave the believer a new divine nature that gives him the capacity to experience deliverance from the lust patterns of the old Adamic sin nature (See 2 Peter 1:4). Therefore, since the believer has been crucified, died and buried with Christ and has been raised and seated with Christ and given a new divine nature, he is commanded to abstain from the various lust patterns of the old sin nature, which wage war against the believer’s soul and is to flee them. 1 Peter 2:11, “Beloved, I urge you as aliens and strangers to abstain from fleshly lusts which wage war against the soul.” 2 Timothy 2:22, “Now flee from youthful lusts and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart.” The unbeliever does not have this alternative of not sinning but only the believer does. The fact that the believer’s old Adamic sin nature has been crucified with Christ at the Cross through the baptism of the Spirit means that the believer no longer is a slave to the sin nature and no longer has to give in to it. Since the believer has been crucified with Christ, he is commanded to consider himself dead to the sin nature. Romans 6:11, “Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus.” The believer who appropriates by faith the teaching of the Word of God that he has been crucified, died and buried with Christ will experience deliverance from the lust patterns of the old sin nature. Galatians 5:24, “Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.” The believer is to consider the members of his body to be dead to these lust patterns of the old sin nature since they were crucified at the cross and he has died with Christ.

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Colossians 3:5, “Therefore consider the members of your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry.” The will of God is that the believer obeys the teaching of the Word of God that he has been crucified, died, buried, raised and seated with Christ, which constitutes experiencing sanctification. 1 Thessalonians 4:3-5, “For this is the will of God, your sanctification; that is, that you abstain from sexual immorality, that each of you know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor, not in lustful passion, like the Gentiles who do not know God.” The Lord Jesus Christ was crucified so that the believer might not live for the lusts of the old sin nature but for the will of God (See 1 Peter 4:1-3). 1 Peter 4:1-3, “Therefore, since Christ has suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same purpose, because he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, so as to live the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for the lusts of men, but for the will of God. For the time already past is sufficient for you to have carried out the desire of the Gentiles, having pursued a course of sensuality, lusts, drunkenness, carousing, drinking parties and abominable idolatries.” The believer who experiences sanctification is obeying the command to be holy like God. 1 Peter 1:14-16, “As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance, but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior because it is written, ‘YOU SHALL BE HOLY, FOR I AM HOLY.’” The believer sins because he chooses to disobey the teaching of the Word of God that his sin nature was crucified with Christ at the Cross and thus allows the sin nature to control and influence his soul so that he produces mental, verbal and overt acts of sin (See James 1:13-15). Therefore, the believer has a battle raging within him and he must choose between obeying the Spirit or the old Adamic sin nature. Galatians 5:17, “For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please.” The believer is commanded to walk by the Spirit, which means that the believer is to conduct his life in obedience to the Spirit, who speaks to the believer through the Word of God. Galatians 5:16, “But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh.”

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When the believer sins, he must confess the sin to the Father in order to be restored to fellowship with God. 1 John 1:9, “If any of us does at any time confess our sins, then, He (God the Father) is faithful and just with the result that He forgives us our sins and purifies us from each and every wrongdoing.” He maintains that fellowship with God by obedience to the Father’s will, which is revealed by the Spirit through the Word of God. 1 John 2:5, “But, whoever, at any time does observe conscientiously His Word, indeed, in this one, the love for the one and only God is accomplished. By means of this we can confirm that we are at this particular moment in fellowship with Him.” This obedience constitutes obeying the commands to be filled with the Spirit and letting the Word of Christ richly dwell in your soul. Ephesians 5:18: “And do not permit yourselves to get into the habit of being drunk with wine because that is non-sensical behavior, but rather permit yourselves on a habitual basis to be influenced by means of the Spirit.” Colossians 3:16, “Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God.” This obedience enables the Spirit to reproduce the character of Christ in the believer. Galatians 5:22-23, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.” So this battle rages between the flesh, our old sin nature and the Spirit. Paul relates this battle in his own life as a believer. Romans 7:14-25, “For we know that the Law is spiritual, but I am of flesh, sold into bondage to sin. For what I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I {would} like to {do} but I am doing the very thing I hate. But if I do the very thing I do not want {to do} I agree with the Law, {confessing} that the Law is good. So now, no longer am I the one doing it, but sin, which dwells in me. For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good {is} not. For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want. But if I am doing the very thing I do not want, I am no longer the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me. I find then the principle that evil is present in me, the one who wants to do good. For I joyfully concur with the law of God in the inner man, but I see a different law in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin which is in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will set

2008 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 105 me free from the body of this death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, on the one hand I myself with my mind am serving the law of God, but on the other, with my flesh the law of sin.” As we noted earlier in our study of the conjunction hina , the word in Romans 6:6 is employed with the subjunctive mood of the verb katargeo in order to form a purpose-result clause. This type of clause emphasizes that God carried out the purpose for which He crucified the justified sinner’s old Adamic sin nature with Christ on the Cross of Calvary, which is that the sin nature might be deprived of its power so that the justified sinner might no longer be its slave. The purpose-result clause emphasizes that it is an accomplished fact that the justified sinner’s old Adamic sin nature was crucified with Christ and that the old Adamic sin nature has been deprived of its power in relation to the justified sinner. It emphasizes that this is not only God’s viewpoint of the justified sinner’s old Adamic sin nature but also what He has done regarding it through the baptism of the Spirit. The aorist tense of the verb katargeo is a “constative” aorist describing in summary fashion the moment that the justified sinner’s old Adamic sin nature was deprived of its power because it was crucified with Christ. In Romans 6:6, the aorist tense of the verb is a “culminative” or “consummative” aorist tense, which is used to emphasize the cessation of an act or state. This type of aorist views an event in its entirety but regarding it from the viewpoint of its existing results. Therefore, the “culminative” aorist views the believer’s old Adamic sin nature being deprived of its power. But regards it from the standpoint of its existing results, which is that this accomplished the purpose of the believer’s old Adamic sin nature being crucified with Christ through the baptism of the Holy Spirit. The idea behind the culminative aorist tense and the hina purpose-result clause is not that the believer’s old Adamic sin nature was crucified with Christ in order that the sin nature “might” be deprived of its power but that it “would be” deprived of its power. The passive voice means that the justified sinner’s old Adamic sin nature as the subject received the action of being deprived of its power because it was crucified with Christ at Calvary by the unexpressed agency of God the Holy Spirit. Although the Holy Spirit is not explicitly mentioned as the agency as identifying the believer with Christ, Matthew 3:11, John 7:37-39, Acts 2 and 10 and 1 Corinthians 12:13 make clear that He was the member of the Trinity that performed this act. We will translate katargeo , “ would be deprived of its power .”

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Corrected translation thus far of Romans 6:6: “This we are very familiar with through instruction, namely, that our old man was crucified with Him in order that the sinful body would be deprived of its power…” Romans 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.” “We ” is the accusative first person plural form of the personal pronoun hemeis (h(mei~$ ), which refers to Paul and his fellow Christian readers. The word refers to Paul and his fellow Christian readers, who like himself, are sinners who have been declared justified by God through faith in Jesus Christ. Consequently, their old Adamic sin natures have been deprived of their power because they were crucified with Christ on the Cross. The word functions semantically as the subject of the infinitive douleuo . We will translate hemeis , “ we .” Corrected translation thus far of Romans 6:6: “This we are very familiar with through instruction, namely, that our old man was crucified with Him in order that the sinful body would be deprived of its power…we” “So that…would be slaves ” is composed of the genitive neuter singular form of the definite article ho ( o() (ho) and the present active infinitive form of the verb douleuo ( douleuvw ) (dool-yoo-o). Douleuo word group refers to the status or the condition of a slave or the attitude of one whereas the douloo word group refers to “enslaving” someone,” or “to make another or oneself a slave.” Douleuo refers to carrying out the duties of a slave, or to the relationship between a slave and his master. The verb douleuo to the Greeks of the ancient world meant to be a slave to someone. It meant to perform the duties of a slave. The verb also meant to serve, to be subject to someone. It could also mean to make oneself a slave to one’s land. It also meant to render service. The Septuagint attests to extensive use of douleuo , usually as an equivalent of the Hebrew ` avadh ( dbu ), “serve,” or one of its derivatives. The verb douleuo is the most usual Septuagint word to describe worship in relation of God and man (Jdg. 2:7; 2 Ch. 30:8). The emphasis of the words with the doul - stem lies on the service being that of a slave, i.e., on a repressive or at least dependent form of service under the complete control of a superior. In the Greek world and in Hellenism the word group has, because of the high evaluation of personal freedom, almost exclusively a demeaning, scornful significance. On this basis and because God was not considered the absolute Lord, the word group plays no role in the religious realm.

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A totally different understanding is expressed in the Old Testament and in Judaism: God is the absolute Lord. The individual knows he is dependent on God. To be chosen by God, to be able to serve Him, is not demeaning; on the contrary, it is an honor. In Gnostic dualism the word group serves to express slavery to matter and to the world powers. The verb douleuo appears 27 times in the Greek New Testament. Alfons Weiser commenting on the verb’s usage in the New Testament, states that “ Douleuo is used of relationship: to be a slave, to be subjugated, John 8:33; Acts 7:7; Rom. 9:12; 1 Tim. 6:2. As a designation of conduct it means to do the work of a slave, serve: Matt. 6:24 par. Luke 16:13; Luke 15:29; Eph. 6:7... douleuo expresses the serving which people exercise toward the following ruling powers: to God as the absolute Lord: Matt. 6:24 par. Luke; 1 Thess. 1:9; Jesus Christ as Lord: Acts 20:19; Rom. 12:11; 14:18; 16:18; Eph. 6:7; Col. 3:24; 7:6 to the law of God: Rom. 7:25; to the gospel: Phil. 2:2; to the idols: Gal. 4:8 f.; to sin: Rom. 6:6; 7:25; to the desires: Titus 3:3; of people to each other: a son to his father, Luke 15:29; service to each other in love, Gal. 5:13. Douleuo appears in an allegorical sense for the condition of Israel as that which rejects the realm of the sovereignty of Christ: Gal. 4:25” (Exegetical Dictionary of the New Testament volume 1, page 350). The New Thayer’s Greek-English Lexicon lists two categorical usages for the verb (page 157): (1) prop. to be a slave, serve, do service (2) metaph. to obey, submit to (a) in a good sense: absol. to yield obedience, to obey one’s commands and render to him the services due (b) in a bad sense, of those who become slaves to some base power, to yield to, give one’s self up to Bauer, Gingrich and Danker list the following NT usages (A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature page 205): (1) of relationship be a slave, be subjected (2) of action or conduct perform the duties of a slave, serve, obey. Louw and Nida list the following New Testament meanings (Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament Based on Semantic Domains volume 1): (1) to be a slave of someone - ‘to be a slave’ (page 741) (2) to be under the control of some influence and to serve the interests of such - ‘to be a slave to, to be controlled by’ (page 475). (3) to serve, normally in a humble manner and in response to the demands or commands of others - ‘to serve’ (page 461). Moulton lists the following New Testament meanings (The Analytical Greek Lexicon Revised page 107): (1) to be a slave or servant; to be in slavery or subjection (2) to discharge the duties of a slave or servant (3) to serve, be occupied in the service of, be devoted, subservient (4) metaphorically, to be enthralled, involved in a slavish service, spiritually or morally.

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The word means, “to fulfill the duties of a slave, for whom there was no choice either as to the kind and length of his service.” In Romans 6:6, the verb douleuo means, “to become a slave to another” and is used with reference to the justified sinner’s relationship with his old Adamic sin nature and its meaning is negated by the adverb meketi , “ no longer .” Therefore, it means that the believer no longer needs to be a slave to his old Adamic sin nature and subject himself or yield himself to its desires since his old Adamic sin nature was crucified with Christ and has thus been deprived of its power over his life. He now has the capacity to reject being a slave to the desires of the sin nature and the alternative now to reject its desires. The verb douleuo is “personifying” the noun hamartia , “ sin ” as a cruel master or tyrant over the sinner. The infinitive form of the verb is employed with the genitive form of the article ho in order to function as an infinitive of result, which indicates the outcome produced by the controlling verb, which is katargeo , “ would be deprived of its power .” It is similar to the infinitive of purpose, which is used to indicate the purpose or the goal of its controlling verb. The infinitive of purpose puts an emphasis on intention, which may or may not culminate in the desired result while the infinitive of result places emphasis on effect, which may or may not have been intended. In Romans 6:6, the verb functions as an “infinitive of result” emphasizing the effect of the believer’s old Adamic sin nature being deprived of its power because this was God’s purpose or intention for crucifying it with Christ. The fact that the verb functions as an “infinitive of result” rather than an “infinitive of purpose” is that Paul is using a hina purpose-result clause, which we noted earlier. This type of clause emphasizes that God carried out the purpose for which He crucified the justified sinner’s old Adamic sin nature with Christ on the Cross of Calvary, which is that the sin nature might be deprived of its power so that the justified sinner might no longer be its slave. The purpose-result clause emphasizes that it is an accomplished fact that the justified sinner’s old Adamic sin nature was crucified with Christ and that the old Adamic sin nature has been deprived of its power. This in turn has “resulted” in the believer no longer having the status of being a slave to the sin nature’s desires. The emphasis is not upon intent but rather upon the effect of the believer’s old Adamic sin nature being deprived of its power because it was crucified with Christ. We must remember that in Romans 6:1-10, Paul is writing to the Roman believers regarding positional truth or in other words, what God has done for them in identifying them with Christ in His death and resurrection through the baptism of the Holy Spirit. One of the results of God crucifying the believer’s sin nature

2008 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 109 with Christ is that he no longer exists in a perpetual state of being a slave to the sin nature since he has been identified with Christ in His crucifixion. The active voice meaning is “stative” meaning that the subject exists in the state indicating by the verb. The subject is Paul and his fellow Christians. Therefore, the active voice indicates that Paul and his fellow Christians no longer “exist in the state of being” slaves to their sin nature as a result of their old Adamic sin nature’s being crucified with Christ at the Cross. The present tense of the verb is “customary” or “stative” present signifying an “ongoing state” or “unbroken process.” This indicates that Paul and his fellow Christians are no longer “existing in a perpetual state” of being slaves to their sin natures since their sin natures were crucified with Christ. We will translate douleuo , “ with the result that…are in a perpetual state of being slaves .” Corrected translation thus far of Romans 6:6: “This we are very familiar with through instruction, namely, that our old man was crucified with Him in order that the sinful body would be deprived of its power with the result that we are in a perpetual state of being slaves…” Romans 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.” “No longer ” is the adverb meketi ( mhkevti ) (may-ket-ee), which is a combination of the negative particle me , “not” and the adverb eti , “yet, still.” The word negates the meaning of the verb douleuo . Thus it indicates that the believer “no longer” exists in a perpetual state of being a slave to the sin nature since God crucified his sin nature with Christ, which deprived the sin nature of its power over him. We will translate meketi , “ no longer .” Corrected translation thus far of Romans 6:6: “This we are very familiar with through instruction, namely, that our old man was crucified with Him in order that the sinful body would be deprived of its power with the result that we are no longer in a perpetual state of being slaves…” Romans 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.” “To sin ” is the articular dative feminine singular form of the noun hamartia (a(martiva ) (ham-ar-tee-ah), which refers again to the sin nature and is being personified as a cruel tyrant or master by the verb douleuo . Therefore, in Romans 6:6, we can see that the apostle Paul employed three different terms to designate the sin nature with each having a different emphasis. The first expression ho palaios anthropos , “ the old man ” referred to the sin nature but from the perspective of its point of origin, namely, the transgression of Adam.

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The second is to soma tes hamartias , “ the sinful body ,” which speaks of the sin nature from the perspective of its location, namely, in the genetic structure of the human body. The third is te hamartia , “ the sin nature ,” which is personified and speaks of the sin nature from the perspective of its rulership over the sinner. The articular construction emphasizes that Paul is speaking of sin as an entity emphasizing the underlying root cause of personal sins or the principle of sin. The article preceding hamartia is also “anaphoric” meaning it indicates that it was used in a previous context. Earlier in the verse it modified the noun soma , “ body ” and functioned as an “attributive genitive.” Here it functions as a “dative of reference” which occurs when the dative substantive is that in reference to which something is presented as true. Therefore, the noun hamartia , which refers to the sin nature, is that in reference to which the truth of the believer no longer existing a perpetual state of being a slave to the sin nature is presented as true. Paul is saying that the believer no longer exists in a perpetual state of being a slave “with reference to the sin nature.” We will translate the noun hamartia , “ to the sin nature .” Completed corrected translation of Romans 6:6: “This we are very familiar with through instruction, namely, that our old man was crucified with Him in order that the sinful body would be deprived of its power with the result that we are no longer in a perpetual state of being slaves to the sin nature.”

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