Dive deep into one of the most transformative sections of the book of Romans, as we unravel the power of Christ’s victory over wrath, sin, law, and death. This episode offers a comprehensive overview of chapters 5 to 8, focusing on spiritual realities and their psychological and emotional impacts. Join us as we explore the transformative journey of Christian living in the kingdom of grace, offering insights that are invaluable to nurturing your faith.
We’re moving into a section of Romans now, which is the most well-known to Christians. It is a glorious passage and the most practical of all the sections in the book of Romans in regard to our faith life and how to trust in God and how to go forward with him. So you will find this enormously helpful to your Christian living. Let’s remind ourselves that the first section of Romans, that is chapters 1 to about 3 and a half, were about the broken condition of humankind, the sinful, broken condition where mankind is under the power of sin and death. And then chapters, the second segment, the second section of the book of Romans, from about 3 verse 21 to 5, rather 4 verse 25, is about the way God rescues humanity. whether it’s man’s initiative or God’s initiative. No, it is God’s initiative. He comes to visit us as he did with Abraham, promising through his child to bless the whole earth. And that child was a type of Jesus Christ, of course. And so through Christ, the whole earth will be blessed. Now we come to chapters 5 through 8, and they are a description as well as an application of life in the kingdom of grace. We don’t have the kingdom of glory yet. That comes at the second coming of Jesus Christ. But we do have the kingdom of grace. And these four chapters, chapters 5, 6, 7, and 8, tell us what the contents of that kingdom of grace are, and also how we trust in Christ in this kingdom of grace. So what I want to do right now is do an overview for you of chapters 5, 6, 7, and 8, so you get an idea of where we will be going in the next many weeks. Chapter 5 is about wrath, that is, freedom from wrath, deliverance from wrath. Chapter 6 is about freedom and deliverance from the identity and judgment of sin. Chapter 7 is about freedom from the judgment of the law. And chapter 8 is about freedom from the power and the judgment of death. So, Romans 5, 6, 7, and 8 are about freedom from wrath, sin, law, and death. You might want to read those chapters ahead of time to get the general overview of what I’m sharing with you today. You may not see that overview clearly in all the verses, But gradually, as we work together on them, you will realize that these chapters are about freedom from wrath, sin, law and death. Now, here is where it gets intriguing. You see, every one of these spiritual realities, wrath, sin, law and death, has a psychological component and an emotional response to that psychological component. When it comes to wrath, that spiritual reality of wrath, when we experience it deep within our souls, we experience abandonment, because wrath is God’s handing us over to the powers of sin, isn’t it? And so, when we experience that abandonment under God’s wrath, there is an emotional response to it. And that is something like the inner heart of our mind saying to us, nobody loves me. The feeling that we’re not loved is what so often comes to us when we sense we are under God’s wrath. Now, when it comes to the spiritual reality of sin, that’s Romans 6, the wrath was Romans 5, then there is the psychological reaction of helplessness, because sin is a bondage. Sin traps us. Sin is not simply, as I’ve said many times, something we do. It’s something that does us. And so we experience a helplessness, which is where our addictions come from. The spiritual reality of sin then creates a psychological reaction of helplessness. And that gives us an emotional response, creates in us an emotional response. And what is that emotional response?
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I’m stuck. I can’t get out. Do you recognize that in your life? So often we do, don’t we? And then comes the chapter 7, the law.
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The spiritual reality of law gives us a psychological reaction of condemnation and guilt because we are never perfect and we have not conformed to the law and we don’t know how to, in fact. And so it brings us a sense of condemnation. And you know, there’s a spiritual reaction to that too.
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What is it? I’m no good. I’m no good. That’s what the law does in our hearts.
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Then we look at the spiritual reality of death in chapter 8. Not only death at the end of life, but death as a judgment. And what we find is that the psychological reaction to the spiritual reality of death is despair. that there is no good at the end of life, that there is no good at the end of all my efforts, that I’m under the power of a death that seems to bring futility to everything I try. And what’s the emotional response to that psychological despair?
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Well, have you heard yourself say often, what’s the point? I give up. What is the point? So let’s review that again.
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Wrath, sin, wrath chapter 5, sin chapter 6, law chapter 7, death chapter 8. Those spiritual realities create psychological reactions. Wrath creates abandonment, and that produces an emotional response in us of nobody loves me. Chapter 6, the spiritual reality of sin, creates a psychological reaction of helplessness, and that produces an emotional response in us, I’m stuck, I can’t get out.
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Chapter 7, law,
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that spiritual reality of law creates a psychological reaction in us of condemnation and guilt.
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And that creates an emotional response of, I’m no good.
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Then chapter 8, the spiritual reality of death, creates a psychological reaction in us of despair. And that produces an emotional response in us of what’s the point. Now, anybody who knows himself well enough will realize that he has often heard his mind speak to himself and say things like, nobody loves me.
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I’m stuck. I can’t get out. I’m no good. What’s the point? I give up.
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Now, it was years ago in 1971 to 74 that I began to realize that the message of wrath, sin, law, and death was actually describing in a spiritual form the psychological responses of our sick and wounded and unbelieving minds.
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I’m abandoned. I’m helpless. I’m guilty. I feel despair.
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And it was an enormous enlightenment to me because it helped me to understand my own mind. Now, the message, though, of wrath, sin, law, and death, that’s all the negative side of it. What the message of wrath, sin, law, and death in Romans 5, 6, 7, and 8 is about is what Christ has done to break the power of those forces. He took the wrath of God. God took his own wrath upon himself so that we in him are freed from abandonment, so that we can begin to counter the voice that says in us, nobody loves me. And Jesus took the judgment of sin and died for our sinfulness on the cross, so that you and I are no longer identified as sinners. Now that is a totally new sense of self. It produces a wonderful new beginning, a new sense of who we are. And then the spiritual reality of law, well, Jesus fulfilled the law in his own self. He was perfectly obedient to God. He was harmonious with his Father. He was the only true human being who ever lived. And that goodness and righteousness that was in Jesus Christ is counted as ours so that you and I are no longer judged by the law, so that we have a counter in our faith life to our mind when it says you’re no good, and we’ll discover all of that.
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And then death. Jesus took the power of death, didn’t he?
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He rose from the dead. His resurrection was for our sake. You and I, by faith in him, count ourselves as released from the identity and the judgment of death. We are no longer destined to death. We are no longer under the judgment of death. We are in the resurrection life of Jesus. And so what we learn through the life and the death and the resurrection of Jesus is to counter the spiritual realities that are an aspect of our human nature, our human nature as it is under the power of sin and death. we are able to say, Father, I praise you that I’m not abandoned. Father, I praise you that I’m not helpless under the power of sin, and nor condemned by it. Father, I thank you that I’m not condemned by the law, but counted as righteous in Christ. Dear God, I praise you that I’m no longer under the power of death, but can look forward to the resurrection of eternal life. What an enormous reality these chapters are for us. And so I invite you to join me every day. You will learn so much, and not only that, you will know how to use your faith in Jesus Christ. www.soundcloud.com or podbean.com and key in how it happens with Colin Cook when you get there. A donation would be appreciated since it’s listener-supported radio. Thank you so much for your support. You can make your donation, send it to PO Box, Faith Quest PO Box 366, Littleton, Colorado, 80160, or you can make your donation online at faithquestradio.com. Thanks so much for all your support. I’ll see you next time. Cheerio and God bless.
