Sanctification – Grace Evangelical Society

You Are Not Under Law (Romans 6:14)

December 1, 2021 by Shawn Lazar in Blog - Romans, Sanctification

Sin shall not have dominion over you. Why not? You might think it still has dominion over you and that you have no other possibility but to sin. If so, Paul says you’re wrong: For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace (Rom 6:14). What Paul

Present Your Body Parts to God (Romans 6:13)

November 29, 2021 by Shawn Lazar in Blog - body parts, Eaton, Jewett, Nygren, Romans, Sanctification

In the Levitical sacrifices, the worshipper would offer up a body to God. An animal body. Oxen, sheep, goats, lambs, and birds. The worshipper would go to the tabernacle and later the temple and present the animal to the priests. The animal would be killed, cut up in the prescribed way, and the priests would

Four Entities in Sanctification (Romans 6:12)

November 25, 2021 by Shawn Lazar in Blog - body, lusts, Romans, Sanctification

In vv 1-11, Paul had been giving the Romans theological truths about the ramifications of being “immersed” (or “baptized”) into Christ and therefore into His death and life. But up until now he had not given any practical application. Not yet. But armed with the insights about how God regarded them, and how they should

Believe You Shall Live with Him (Romans 6:8-11)

November 19, 2021 by Shawn Lazar in Blog - Michael Eaton, Romans, Sanctification, Watchman Nee

Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him. For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives

No Longer a Slave to Sin (Romans 6:6c-7)

November 17, 2021 by Shawn Lazar in Blog - body, Romans, Sanctification, Sin

You’re a slave. There’s no escaping that fact. The question is—whose slave are you? If you sin, then you’re a slave to it. That’s what Jesus taught: Jesus answered them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin” (John 8:34). The addict knows this. But I think that, at

Doing Away with the Body of Sin (Romans 6:6b)

November 15, 2021 by Shawn Lazar in Blog - body, Romans, Sanctification

Why shouldn’t Christians continue in sin? For Paul, the answer, in part, is because your old man was crucified with Christ. And God did that to your old man for a reason— knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should

Dying and Rising with Christ (Romans 6:5)

November 2, 2021 by Shawn Lazar in Blog - Resurrection, Romans, Sanctification

Should Christians continue in sin? Absolutely not, Paul answers at the beginning of Romans 6. They can—it is certainly possible for a Christian to sin—but for Paul, continuing to sin would make no sense theologically. Why not? Because of dying and rising. For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death,

You Were Raised to Walk in Newness of Life (Romans 6:4)

October 29, 2021 by Shawn Lazar in Blog - newness of life, Romans, Sanctification

“Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in!” You know the well-worn movie trope. After a life of crime, the protagonist tries to leave it all behind and go legit only to get sucked back into doing “one last job”—one more bank heist, hit, or drug deal. The protagonist resists, but

You Were Dead and Buried in Christ (Romans 6:3-4a)

October 27, 2021 by Shawn Lazar in Blog - Death, Positional Truth, Romans, Sanctification

Does preaching grace promote sin? Paul rejected that reasoning as illogical. Why? His answer might surprise you. It makes no sense for you to disobey God because you died and are dead to sin (cf. Rom 6:1-2). Paul’s claim seems doubly unintuitive. After all, I am very much alive, not dead. And so is the

Continuing to Sin Is Illogical (Rom 6:1-2)

October 21, 2021 by Shawn Lazar in Blog - died to sin, Romans, Romans 6, Sanctification, Sin

Do you remember the episode of Seinfeld where Kramer starts working a 9 to 5 job at a firm called Brand/Leland? Everyone is shocked. But eventually the truth comes to light when Mr. Leland himself calls Kramer into his office for a performance evaluation. “Kramer, I’ve been reviewing your work,” he says. “Quite frankly, it