Trinity VII

The Epistle Romans 6.19

Brethren: I speak after the manner of men, because of the infirmity of your flesh: for as ye have yielded your members servants to uncleanness, and to iniquity unto iniquity: even so now yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness. For when ye were servants of sin, ye were free from righteousness. What fruit had ye then in those things, whereof ye are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. But now being made free from sin, and become servants, to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life. For the wages of sin is death. But the gift of God is eternal life: through Jesus Christ Our Lord.

In my sermon last week, I told you how we are required by our Baptism and our acceptance of Jesus Christ as Our Lord and Savior to “walk in newness of life”. Some might even say that I beat this point to death. My intention was to say that it is by the example of our witness, how we live from day to day, that we would prove that we had received the Grace of Salvation.

But upon reflection, it occurred to me that my words might lead some to think that I was promoting the idea that we are saved by the deeds that we do; that our Salvation is a result of our works. I want to assure you that this was not the intent of my message; for our Salvation comes only by the Grace of God, and not as a result of anything that we do.

But this does not mean that we are without any responsibility for our Salvation. Indeed, our participation in our Salvation is crucial; for without it, we cannot truly say that we have been Saved.

If we were to compare the different Lectionary selections from St. Paul’s letter to the Romans for last Sunday and today, we might be tempted to think that the Apostle is being somewhat redundant; in both, Paul talks about death; in both he talks about a new life; and in both he implies that by the Grace of God we have been given a new life.

However, in the selection for today, we see that St. Paul has gone into somewhat greater detail. He reminds us more specifically of our former sinful state; and calls to our attention our new responsibilities as Christians; “for as ye have yielded your members servants to uncleanness, and to iniquity unto iniquity: even so now yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness “.

And then, as if even this point was too abstract, the Apostle reiterates the theme; “For when ye were servants of sin, ye were free from righteousness. What fruit had ye then in those things, whereof ye are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. But now being made free from sin, and become servants, to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life“.

It is here that we see a very great and significant difference; for whereas St. Paul spoke previously about our Salvation and our new life from a higher level, today, the Apostle gives us a better idea of what is involved. He tells us that our Salvation is a bit more complicated than simply making a one-time public profession. He tells us that our Salvation is a continuing commitment.

Please bear with me as I once again read these last few verses with a slight “adjustment”; “for as ye have yielded your members servants to uncleanness, and to iniquity unto iniquity: even so now yield your members servants to righteousness unto SANCTIFICATION“; “For when ye were servants of sin, ye were free from righteousness. What fruit had ye then in those things, whereof ye are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. But now being made free from sin, and become servants, to God, ye have your fruit unto SANCTIFICATION, and the end everlasting life“.

Some of you might have noticed that in these two verses I have inserted the word “Sanctification”, in the place of “holiness”. And if I might also be forgiven a moments indulgence, you should know that the word “Sanctification” is what appears in the Revised Standard translation of the Bible. I do not do this to start a debate over the accuracy of the RSV or the Authorized Version; rather I submit to you that for our purposes today “Sanctification” makes better sense in relationship to St. Paul’s intended meaning.

You see, in the original Greek, the word “Sanctification” is “hagiasmos”, which is a noun in that language. But nouns in Greek which end in “asmos” (the last letters of “hagiasmos”), describe not a completed state, but a process (Barclay; Romans, pg 91). In other words, when St. Paul directs his Roman audience to “yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness“, he is telling them to commit themselves to the PROCESS that leads to Salvation.

We are not made perfect simply by the public declaration of our acceptance of Christ. And while our Baptism regenerates us into the Body of Christ, it does not necessarily transform us into flawless human beings. But these events do commit us to certain things;

First, we are committed to the process, the road to holiness. Next, we are committed to the idea that this process will continue for an indeterminable amount of time; “Sanctification” is therefore a road to holiness; and we do not know when that road will end, though we do know how it will end.

And finally, we are committed to continue the struggle; to follow this road to holiness, regardless of the obstacles that we face, or the status that we have achieved. For a Christian, the direction in which we look is always more important than the position that we have already reached. To quote Robert Louis Stevenson: ”To travel hopefully is a better thing than to arrive”.

There is an old story about an Anglican Bishop who was confronted by a young boy who asked him, “have you been saved”? The bishop replied, “I have been saved, I am being saved, and I shall be saved”. In this simple statement, the bishop conveyed the entirety of the message that St. Paul imparts to us today;

By the Grace of God we have been “made free from sin, and become servants, to God“. By the Grace of God we work so that our witness will produce  “fruit unto holiness  (SANCTIFICATION), and the end everlasting life“. By the Grace of God, we commit to the process that will result in the Salvation of Mankind. By the Grace of God we commit to the work that comes with accepting the gift that we could never earn by ourselves; by the Grace of God, WE HAVE BEEN SAVED; “For the wages of sin is death. But the gift of God is eternal life: through Jesus Christ Our Lord“