June 30 Your Daily Bible Study

Psalm 16 - 18:
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PSALM 16

A Psalm of david:  The coming Davidic king

      1 Preserve me, O God:  for in You do I put my trust (all of the Verses of this Psalm refer to the Messiah, with the first four Verses referring also to David).

      2 O my soul, You have said unto the LORD, You are my LORD; my goodness extends not to You (could be translated, “You are my Lord, I have no good beyond and apart from You; You are my highest and only good”);

      3 But to the Saints who are in the Earth, and to the excellent, in whom is all my delight (thus the Messiah appears as a Man in His relation to God and as a Brother in His relation to Israel and the Church).

      4 Their sorrows shall be multiplied who hasten after another god:  their drink offerings of blood will I not offer, nor take up their names into my lips (anything other than “Christ and Him Crucified” is “another god,” i.e., “another Jesus” [II Cor. 11:4]).

      5 The LORD is the portion of my inheritance and of my cup:  You maintain my lot (this Verse expresses the Mission and characterizes the Ministry given to the Messiah and declared by Him to be pleasant and goodly — the Redemption of man).

      6 The lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places; yea, I have a goodly heritage (the Messiah’s heritage is the Redemption of man and the Restoration of the Earth to God, all made possible by the Cross [Eph. 1:10; Rev., Chpts. 21-22]).

      7 I will bless the LORD, Who has given me counsel:  my reins also instruct me in the night seasons (Christ, by dwelling in a human body, “learned obedience” [Heb. 5:8]; He did not have to learn to be obedient, for that would imply that He was a sinner by nature, but He “learned obedience,” which is quite another thing).

      8 I have set the LORD always before me:  because He is at my right hand.  I shall not be moved (pertains to the Mission of Redemption).

      9 Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoices:  my flesh also shall rest in hope.

    10 For You will not leave my soul in Hell (pertains to Paradise, and not the burning side of Hell as some teach; Jesus never went to that place); neither will You suffer Your Holy One to see corruption (Christ saw no corruption in the grave simply because He atoned for all sin; therefore, there was no doubt about Him being raised from the dead).

    11 You will show me the Path of Life (the Resurrection):  in Your Presence is fulness of joy (Christ would be elevated to the very Throne of God [Heb. 1:3]); at Your right Hand there are pleasures for evermore (where He ever lives to make Intercession for the Saints [Heb. 7:26-27]).

PSALM 17

A psalm of david:  a prayer for protection

      1 Hear the right, O LORD, attend unto my cry, give ear unto my prayer, that goes not out of feigned lips.  (Even though uttered by David, it is a prayer more so of the Greater Son of David.  If we lack understanding regarding His Incarnation, it will be difficult for us to understand His praying, as this Psalm proclaims.  As He prays, He associates His People with Himself.)

      2 Let my sentence come forth from Your Presence:  let Your Eyes behold the things that are equal (could be translated, “Let sentence in my favor be pronounced by You, for Your Eyes discern upright actions”).

      3 You have proved my heart; You have visited me in the night; You have tried me, and shall find nothing; I am purposed that my mouth shall not transgress (Satan found no imperfection in Christ, and God found nothing but perfection in Him).

      4 Concerning the works of men, by the word of Your lips I have kept me from the paths of the destroyer.

      5 Hold up my goings in Your Paths, that my footsteps slip not (the “paths of the destroyer” and the “paths of Jehovah” are contrasted in Verses 4 through 5, and the statement is made that preservation from the one and perseverance in the other alone are secured by allegiance to the Scriptures).

      6 I have called upon You, for You will hear me, O God:  incline Your ear unto me, and hear my speech (this is concentrated intercessory prayer, which is almost unheard of presently!).

      7 Show Your marvelous Lovingkindness, O You Who saves by Your right Hand them which put their trust in You from those who rise up against them (in Verses 7 through 14, the Son of David associates His People with Himself; we have the same enemies, and we have the same Deliverer).

      8 Keep me as the apple of the eye, hide me under the shadow of Your Wings (the “apple of the eye” is the pupil of the eye; it means that as God looks at His People, figuratively speaking, He can see only His People),

      9 From the wicked who oppress me, from my deadly enemies, who compass me about.

    10 They are inclosed in their own fat:  with their mouth they speak proudly.

    11 They have now compassed us in our steps:  they have set their eyes bowing down to the earth.

    12 Like as a lion that is greedy of his prey, and as it were a young lion lurking in secret places (Satan comes as a “roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour” [I Pet. 5:8]; he is the enemy of Christ and the enemy of every Child of God).

    13 Arise, O LORD, disappoint him, cast him down:  deliver my soul from the wicked, which is Your Sword (while this speaks of David, as well as every other Believer, it more pointedly speaks to the Antichrist; Israel must be delivered from him, and will be delivered).

    14 From men which are Your Hand, O LORD, from men of the world, which have their portion in this life, and whose belly You fill with Your hid treasure:  they are full of children, and leave the rest of their substance to their babes (in Verse 13, the enemy is Satan, while in Verse 14, the enemy is men; they are those of the world who have no concern for Heavenly things, and they are full of children, meaning that scores seek to emulate them).

    15 As for me, I will behold Your Face in righteousness:  I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with Your likeness (this statement expresses the highest joy of the spiritual nature; it is the one absorbing desire to see God’s Face, and to be like Him).

PSALM 18

A psalm of david:  a hymn of thanksgiving

      1 I will love You, O LORD, my strength.  (This is virtually the same Psalm recorded in II Sam., Chpt. 22.  David spoke these words to the Lord on the day that the Lord delivered him from the hand of all his enemies from the hand of Saul.)

      2 The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my Deliverer; my God, my strength, in Whom I will trust; my Buckler, and the Horn of my Salvation, and my High Tower (the Lord is all of this through the Cross; Christ is the Source, while the Cross is the means [I Cor. 1:17-18]).

      3 I will call upon the LORD, Who is worthy to be praised:  so shall I be saved from my enemies.

      4 The sorrows of death compassed me, and the floods of ungodly men made me afraid (in these Verses, David thinks of Saul in his efforts to destroy him).

      5 The sorrows of Hell compass me about:  the snares of death prevented me (the idea is, Saul would have banned David to Hell if he could have done so; as well, those presently in the apostate Church would do the same to those in the True Church — if they had the power).

      6 In my distress I called upon the LORD, and cried unto my God:  He heard my voice out of His Temple, and my cry came before Him, even into His ears (these Passages go far beyond David; even more so, they describe the mysterious sufferings of the Messiah at the Cross of Calvary).

      7 Then the Earth shook and trembled; the foundations also of the hills moved and were shaken, because He was wroth (when Jesus died on Calvary, an earthquake rent the area of Jerusalem [Mat. 27:51]).

      8 There went up a smoke out of His nostrils, and fire out of His mouth devoured:  coals were kindled by it (this describes God’s anger, not at His Son, but at the sin which had caused all of this).

      9 He bowed the heavens also, and came down:  and darkness was under His feet (Matthew said, at the time of the Cross, there was “darkness over all the land” [Mat. 27:45]).

    10 And He rode upon a Cherub, and did fly:  yes, He did fly upon the wings of the wind.

    11 He made darkness His secret place; His pavilion round about Him were dark waters and thick clouds of the skies.

    12 At the brightness that was before Him His thick clouds passed, hail stones and coals of fire.

    13 The LORD also thundered in the heavens, and the Highest gave His voice; hail stones and coals of fire.

    14 Yes, He sent out His arrows, and scattered them; and He shot out lightnings, and discomfited them.

    15 Then the channels of waters were seen, and the foundations of the world were discovered at Your rebuke, O LORD, at the blast of the breath of Your nostrils.

    16 He sent from above, He took me, He drew me out of many waters.

    17 He delivered me from my strong enemy, and from them which hated me:  for they were too strong for me.

    18 They prevented me in the day of my calamity:  but the LORD was my Stay.

    19 He brought me forth also into a large place; He delivered me; because He delighted in me (all of these previous Verses portray the actions of the Heavenly Father as it regards Christ and concerning the Cross of Calvary; these things, whatever they represent, took place in the spirit world).

    20 The LORD rewarded me according to my righteousness; according to the cleanness of my hands has He recompensed me (Satan had no claim on Jesus, because He had never sinned; therefore, death could not defeat Him and, in fact, He defeated both Satan and death, because He atoned for all sin [Col. 2:14-15]).

    21 For I have kept the Ways of the LORD, and have not wickedly departed from my God (Christ was the Perfect Sacrifice, and that He had to be in order to be accepted by the Father).

    22 For all His Judgments were before me, and I did not put away His Statutes from me (the Lord abided by, and kept, every single Statute, Law, and Commandment, failing not even one time [Rom. 10:4]).

    23 I was also upright before Him, and I kept myself from my iniquity (the words, “my iniquity,” do not mean that Christ had a besetting sin, nor should they be understood here as intending the iniquity of the Elect whom He had made His Own, but they point to a form of iniquity especially planned by Satan for Him, and to which He Alone could be tempted; the third temptation in the wilderness is an example [Lk. 4:9]).

    24 Therefore has the LORD recompensed me according to my righteousness, according to the cleanness of my hands in His eyesight (Christ, as the Second Man, did what the first man, Adam, failed to do, which was to render a perfect obedience to God; likewise, such a perfect obedience, upon our Faith registered in Him and what He did at the Cross, becomes our perfect obedience).

    25 With the merciful You will show Yourself merciful; with an upright man You will show Yourself upright (Mat. 5:7);

    26 With the pure You will show Yourself pure; and with the froward You will show Yourself froward (the pure will be met with purity, and the froward will be met with adversity).

    27 For You will save the afflicted people; but will bring down high looks (the Lord gives grace to the humble, but resists the proud [I Pet. 5:5]).

    28 For You will light my candle:  the LORD my God will enlighten my darkness (the true lamp which enlightens the darkness is the “light of God’s Countenance”).

    29 For by You I have run through a troop; and by my God have I leaped over a wall (an euphemism for victory).

    30 As for God, His Way is perfect:  the Word of the LORD is tried:  He is a Buckler to all those who trust in Him (God’s Word is tried in the fire; it has stood all tests; it has never failed those who have pleaded its Promises and met its terms before its Author).

    31 For Who is God save the LORD?  or Who is a Rock save our God?  (Absolute confidence may be placed in the Lord, Who is able to protect and preserve to the uttermost all who serve Him.)

God’s blessings

    32 It is God Who girds me with strength, and makes my way perfect (perfection is found only in Christ; in the Sin-Offering, the sin of the sinner is given to Christ; in the Burnt-Offering, the Perfection of Christ is given to the sinner).

    33 He makes my feet like hinds’ feet, and sets me upon my high places (He gives me secure possessions).

    34 He teaches my hands to war, so that a bow of steel is broken by my arms (the language is figurative; when the Herodians, the Pharisees, the Scribes, and the Sadducees warred against Him with their bows of steel, He bent their bows and broke them; He showed the folly of their hard questions and confounded them).

    35 You have also given me the shield of Your Salvation; and Your right Hand has held me up, and Your gentleness has made me great (the “right hand” speaks of power).

    36 You have enlarged my steps under me, that my feet did not slip (pertains to David in the final alternative, but to Christ in totality; His Feet never slipped even one time!).

    37 I have pursued my enemies, and overtaken them:  neither did I turn again till they were consumed (every sin was atoned for at Calvary; none were left hanging).

    38 I have wounded them that they were not able to rise:  they are fallen under my feet (considering that Believers are the Body of Christ, this means that all enemies are under our feet, because, first of all, they were put under His Feet [Col 1:16-20]).

    39 For You have girded me with strength unto the battle:  You have subdued under me those who rose up against me.

    40 You have also given me the necks of my enemies; that I might destroy them who hate me (and that He did at the Cross).

    41 They cried, but there was none to save them:  even unto the LORD, but He answered them not (this speaks of the Pharisees, who cried to the Lord against Christ, but a prayer, of course, which could not be answered; no matter how religious man may be, if he opposes Christ and the Cross, God will not answer his prayer).

    42 Then did I beat them small as the dust before the wind:  I did cast them out as the dirt in the streets.

    43 You have delivered me from the strivings of the people; and You have made me the head of the heathen:  a people whom I have not known shall serve me (due to the Cross, the Gentile world has come to Christ; that obedience will be total in the coming Millennium).

    44 As soon as they hear of me, they shall obey me:  the strangers shall submit themselves unto me (to the Apostle Paul was given the responsibility of taking the Message of Redemption to the Gentile world; from that time, untold millions have accepted Christ).

    45 The strangers shall fade away, and be afraid out of their close places (which will take place in the coming Millennium).

    46 The LORD lives; and blessed be my Rock; and let the God of my Salvation be exalted (at long last, in the Millennial Reign, sin will be put down, Satan will be locked away, and the song of the world will be “The Lord liveth . . .”).

    47 It is God Who avenges me, and subdues the people under me.

    48 He delivers me from my enemies:  yes, You lift me up above those who rise up against me:  You have delivered me from the violent man (while David was delivered from Saul, Christ was delivered from all His enemies).

    49 Therefore will I give thanks unto You, O LORD, among the heathen, and sing praises unto Your Name (at this moment, untold millions in the Gentile world sing praises to the Lord).

    50 Great deliverance gives He to His king; and shows mercy to His anointed, to David, and to his seed for evermore (this speaks not only of David and the great victory that God gave him, but it speaks even more so of “His Anointed,” meaning the Son of David; also, this same victory is promised to all of us because of the “Son of David,” for it says, “to His seed forever more”).

Romans 5 - 6:

Chapter 5

(A.D. 60)

JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH

      1 Therefore being Justified by Faith (this is the only way one can be justified; refers to Faith in Christ and what He did at the Cross), we have peace with God (justifying peace) through our Lord Jesus Christ (what He did at the Cross):

      2 By Whom also we have access by Faith into this Grace (we have access to the Goodness of God by Faith in Christ) wherein we stand (wherein alone we can stand), and rejoice in hope (a hope that is guaranteed) of the Glory of God (our Faith in Christ always brings Glory to God; anything else brings glory to self, which God can never accept).

      3 And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also (in the fact that tribulations do not hurt us):  knowing that tribulation works patience (points to the characteristic of a man who is unswerved from his deliberate purpose and his loyalty to Faith, even by the greatest trials and sufferings);

      4 And patience, experience (points to an end result); and experience, hope (presents the natural product of an approved experience).

      5 And hope makes not ashamed (in effect, tells us that this is not a false hope); because the Love of God is shed abroad in our hearts (God’s Love brings all of this about) by the Holy Spirit which is given unto us (all of this is wholly a work of the Holy Spirit).

      6 For when we were yet without strength (before we were saved), in due time (at the appointed time) Christ died for the ungodly (the entirety of humanity fell into this category).

      7 For scarcely for a Righteous man will one die (not many would do such):  yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die (some few might).

      8 But God Commendeth His Love toward us (Christ dying for the ungodly is a proof of Love immeasurable), in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us (Jesus died for those who bitterly hate Him).

      9 Much more then (if Christ died for us while we were yet sinners, how much more will He do for us now that we are Redeemed and, thereby, reconciled to Him!), being now Justified by His Blood (we are justified now, and the Blood of Christ stands as the guarantee for that Justification), we shall be saved from wrath through Him (the Wrath of God, which is always manifested against sin).

    10 For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the Death of His Son (the only way we could be reconciled; this Verse shoots down the “Jesus died spiritually doctrine”), much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by His life (does not speak of His Perfect Life, but rather the pouring out of His Life’s Blood at Calvary).

    11 And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ (we are to boast of our Reconciliation to God, for it is a true confidence [I Cor. 1:31; II Cor. 10:17]), by Whom we have now received the Atonement (Reconciliation).

ADAM

    12 Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world (by Adam), and death by sin (both spiritual and physical death); and so death passed upon all men (for all were in Adam), for that all have sinned (all are born in sin, because of Adam’s transgression):

    13 (For until the Law (Law of Moses) sin was in the world (caused by Adam’s Fall): but sin is not imputed when there is no Law (before the Law was given, sin and its immediate Judgment were not imputed to the account of those who were then alive; but by the fact of Adam’s Fall, they were still sinners).

    14 Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses (because of the sin nature that was in all men due to Adam’s Fall), even over them who had not sinned after the similitude of Adam’s transgression (irrespective that all did not in essence commit high treason against God, as did Adam, they were still sinners), who is the figure of Him Who was to come (Adam was the fountainhead of all sin and death, while Christ is the Fountainhead of all Redemption and Life).

CONTRASTS

    15 But not as the offence, so also is the free gift (would have probably been better translated, “as the offence, much more the Free Gift”; the “Free Gift” refers to Christ and what He did at the Cross, which addressed all that was lost at the Fall).  For if through the offence of one (Adam) many be dead, much more the Grace of God (proclaims the inexhaustible Power of this attribute), and the Gift by Grace (presents Jesus as that “Gift”), which is by One Man, Jesus Christ (what He did at the Cross), has abounded unto many (this “One Man,” the Lord Jesus Christ, nullified the offence of the “One Man” Adam).

    16 And not as it was by one who sinned, so is the Gift (so much greater is the Gift):  for the judgment was by one to condemnation (by Adam), but the Free Gift is of many offences unto Justification (cleanses from all sin).

    17 For if by one man’s offence death reigned by one (Adam’s Fall); much more they which receive abundance of Grace (not just “Grace,” but “Abundance of Grace”; all made possible by the Cross) and of the Gift of Righteousness (Righteousness is a Gift from God which comes solely through Jesus Christ, and is received by Faith) shall reign in life by One, Jesus Christ.)  (This proclaims the Believer “reigning,” even as death had reigned, but from a position of much greater power than that of death.)

    18 Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation (Judged by God to be lost); even so by the Righteousness of One (Christ) the Free Gift came upon all men unto Justification of life (received by simply believing in Christ and what He did at the Cross, which is the only answer for sin).

    19 For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners (the “many” referred to all), so by the obedience of One (obedient unto death, even the death of the Cross [Phil. 2:8]) shall many be made Righteous (“many” refers to all who will believe).

    20 Moreover the Law entered, that the offence might abound (the Law of Moses, that the offence might be identified).  But where sin abounded, Grace did much more abound (where sin increased, Grace super-abounded, and then some on top of that):

    21 That as sin has reigned unto death (sin reigns as an absolute monarch in the being of the unredeemed), even so might Grace reign through Righteousness unto Eternal Life by Jesus Christ our Lord (Grace reigns unto Life, but it reigns “through Righteousness,” i.e., because of God’s Righteous Judgment of sin at Calvary executed in the Person of His Son Jesus Christ).

Chapter 6

(A.D. 60)

THE CROSS

      1 What shall we say then? (This is meant to direct attention to Rom. 5:20.) Shall we continue in sin, that Grace may abound?  (Just because Grace is greater than sin doesn’t mean that the Believer has a license to sin.)

      2 God forbid (presents Paul’s answer to the question, “Away with the thought, let not such a thing occur”).  How shall we, who are dead to sin (dead to the sin nature), live any longer therein?  (This portrays what the Believer is now in Christ.)

      3 Know you not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ (plainly says that this Baptism is into Christ and not water [I Cor. 1:17; 12:13; Gal. 3:27; Eph. 4:5; Col. 2:11-13]) were baptized into His Death? (When Christ died on the Cross, in the Mind of God, we died with Him; in other words, He became our Substitute, and our identification with Him in His Death gives us all the benefits for which He died; the idea is that He did it all for us!)

      4 Therefore we are buried with Him by baptism into death (not only did we die with Him, but we were buried with Him as well, which means that all the sin and transgression of the past were buried; when they put Him in the Tomb, they put all of our sins into that Tomb as well):  that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the Glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life (we died with Him, we were buried with Him, and His Resurrection was our Resurrection to a “Newness of Life”).

      5 For if we have been planted together (with Christ) in the likeness of His Death (Paul proclaims the Cross as the instrument through which all Blessings come; consequently, the Cross must ever be the Object of our Faith, which gives the Holy Spirit latitude to work within our lives), we shall be also in the likeness of His Resurrection (we can have the “likeness of His Resurrection,” i.e., “live this Resurrection Life,” only as long as we understand the “likeness of His Death,” which refers to the Cross as the Means by which all of this is done):

      6 Knowing this, that our old man is Crucified with Him (all that we were before conversion), that the body of sin might be destroyed (the power of the sin nature made ineffective), that henceforth we should not serve sin (the guilt of sin is removed at conversion, because the sin nature no longer rules within our hearts and lives).

      7 For he who is dead (He was our Substitute, and in the Mind of God, we died with Him upon Believing Faith) is freed from sin (set free from the bondage of the sin nature).

      8 Now if we be dead with Christ (once again pertains to the Cross, and our being Baptized into His Death), we believe that we shall also live with Him (have Resurrection Life, which is more Abundant Life [Jn. 10:10]):

      9 Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dies no more (means that His Work was a Finished Work, and will require nothing else); death has no more dominion over Him (because all sin has been Atoned; inasmuch as Christ is our Substitute, if death has no more dominion over Him, it has no more dominion over us; this means that the power of the sin nature is broken).

    10 For in that He died, He died unto sin (the sin nature) once (actually means, “He died unto the sin nature, once, for all”):  but in that He lives (the Resurrection), He lives unto God (refers to the fact that all life comes from God, and that we receive that life by virtue of the Cross and our Faith in that Finished Work).

    11 Likewise reckon (account) you also yourselves to be dead indeed unto (the) sin (while the sin nature is not dead, we are dead unto the sin nature by virtue of the Cross and our Faith in that Sacrifice, but only as long as our Faith continues in the Cross), but alive unto God (living the Resurrection Life) through Jesus Christ our Lord (refers to what He did at the Cross, which is the means of this Resurrection Life).

SANCTIFICATION

    12 Let not sin (the sin nature) therefore reign (rule) in your mortal body (showing that the sin nature can once again rule in the heart and life of the Believer, if the Believer doesn’t constantly look to Christ and the Cross; the “mortal body” is neutral, which means it can be used for Righteousness or unrighteousness), that you should obey it in the lusts thereof (ungodly lusts are carried out through the mortal body, if Faith is not maintained in the Cross [I Cor. 1:17-18]).

    13 Neither yield you your members (of your mortal body) as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin (the sin nature):  but yield yourselves unto God (we are to yield ourselves to Christ and the Cross; that alone guarantees Victory over the sin nature), as those who are alive from the dead (we have been raised with Christ in “Newness of Life”), and your members as instruments of Righteousness unto God (this can be done only by virtue of the Cross and our Faith in that Finished Work, and Faith which continues in that Finished Work from day-to-day [Lk. 9:23-24]).

    14 For sin shall not have dominion over you (the sin nature will not have dominion over us if we as Believers continue to exercise Faith in the Cross of Christ; otherwise, the sin nature most definitely will have dominion over the Believer):  for you are not under the Law (means that if we try to live this life by any type of law, no matter how good that law might be in its own right, we will conclude by the sin nature having dominion over us), but under Grace (the Grace of God flows to the Believer on an unending basis only as long as the Believer exercises Faith in Christ and what He did at the Cross; Grace is merely the Goodness of God exercised by and through the Holy Spirit, and given to undeserving Saints).

    15 What then? (This presents Paul going back to the first question he asked in this Chapter.)  shall we sin, because we are not under the Law, but under Grace? (If we think such a thing, then we’re completely misunderstanding Grace.  The Grace of God gives us the liberty to live a Holy life, which we do through Faith in Christ and the Cross, and not license to sin as some think.) God forbid (every true Believer hates sin; so the idea of living under its dominion is abhorrent to say the least!).

    16 Know you not, that to whom you yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants you are to whom you obey (the Believer is either a slave to Christ, for that’s what the word “servant” means, or else a slave to sin, which he will be if he doesn’t keep his Faith in Christ and the Cross); whether of sin unto death (once again allow us to state the fact that if the Believer attempts to live for God by any method other than Faith in the Finished Work of Christ, the Believer will fail, no matter how hard he otherwise tries), or of obedience unto Righteousness?  (The Believer is required to obey the Word of the Lord.  He cannot do that within his own strength, but only by understanding that he receives all things through what Christ did at the Cross and his continued Faith in that Finished Work, even on a daily basis.  Then the Holy Spirit, Who Alone can make us what we ought to be, can accomplish His work within our lives.)

    17 But God be thanked, that you were the servants of sin (slaves to the sin nature, what we were before we were Saved), but you have obeyed from the heart that form of Doctrine (Jesus Christ and Him Crucified; understanding that all things come to the Believer from God by the means of the Cross) which was delivered you (the Lord gave this “form of Doctrine” to Paul, and he gave it to us in his Epistles).

    18 Being then made free from sin (being made free from the sin nature; it has no more power over the Believer, but only as we continue to look to the Cross), you became the servants of Righteousness (whereas you were formerly a slave to the sin nature, you are now a slave to Righteousness; if Faith is maintained in the Cross, there is a constant pull of the Believer toward Righteousness).

    19 I speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your flesh (“the manner of men” pertains to the Fall, which has made the flesh weak; this speaks of our own personal strength and ability):  for as you have yielded your members servants to uncleanness (which the Believer will do, if the object of his Faith is anything but the Cross) and to iniquity unto iniquity (without constant Faith in the Cross, the Believer’s situation regarding sin will get worse and worse); even so now yield your members servants to Righteousness unto Holiness (which, as repeatedly stated, can only be done through constant Faith in the Cross; understanding that it is by and through the Cross that we receive all things, and that the Holy Spirit, Who Alone can develop Righteousness and Holiness in our lives, works exclusively through the Cross).

    20 For when you were the servants of sin (slaves to sin), you were free from Righteousness (speaking of our lives before conversion to Christ).

    21 What fruit had you then in those things whereof you are now ashamed? (This means that absolutely nothing of any value can come out of the sinful experience.  It is impossible for there to be any good fruit.) for the end of those things is death (if the Believer refuses to look to the Cross, but rather looks to something else regarding his Sanctification, domination by the sin nature is going to be the result, and spiritual death will be the conclusion; the Cross is the only answer for sin!).

    22 But now (since coming to Christ) being made free from sin (set free from the sin nature), and become servants (slaves) to God (but this yoke is a light yoke [Mat. 11:28-30]), you have your fruit unto Holiness (which the Holy Spirit will bring about, providing the Cross is ever the Object of our Faith), and the end Everlasting Life (so the Believer has the choice of “death,” which is the end result of trusting something other than Christ and the Cross, or “Everlasting Life,” which is the result of trusting Christ and the Cross).

    23 For the wages of sin is death (speaks of spiritual death, which is separation from God); but the Gift of God is Eternal Life through Jesus Christ our Lord (as stated, all of this, without exception, comes to us by the means of what Christ did at the Cross, which demands that the Cross ever be the Object of our Faith, thus giving the Holy Spirit latitude to work within our lives and bring forth His Fruit).