The foremost contrast (Rom 6:23)

WHAT IS FOREMOST?
The Foremost Contrast (Rom 6:23)
pdf
Dr. Paul Manuel—2011

(This sermon is part of Dr. Manuel's sermon series: "What is Foremost?" Links to
each of the sermons in the series will be found here as they are posted.)

If you need to make a point, it is often helpful to use a comparison that highlights a clear contrast.

Two brothers in town had a scandalous reputation after years of continuous carousing. Getting on in age, they wanted to be remembered well when they were gone. They asked a local minister to conduct the funeral of whichever brother went first, promising to make a large donation to the church if the minister would say in his eulogy that the deceased brother was a saint. The minister agreed. When one of the brothers died, the other brother approached the minister, reminding him about their arrangement, and gave him a check for a sizable amount. At the funeral, the minister did not hold back. "He was an evil man," he said. "He cheated on his wife and abused his family." After going on like this for a while, he finally concluded, "but, compared to his brother...he was a saint."

If you need to make a point, it is often helpful to make a comparison that highlights a clear contrast...assuming there is one. When the apostle Paul needed to make a point, he used a comparison to highlight The Foremost Contrast.
Of all the New Testament books, Paul's letter to the Romans comes closest to being a theological treatise. The five-word outline from our study of the book several years ago lists the five important topics the apostle covers: sin, salvation, sanctification, sovereignty, and service. Our text this morning comes from the third section, where Paul explains that God is powerful in sanctifying or setting apart believers for a better life than they were bound for on their own, a change He illustrates by explaining...

* XXIV The Foremost Contrast

...a change that does not come cheap but that requires...

• The price of God (Rom 6:23)

Please turn to...

Rom 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

We do not know much about Paul's background, apart from whence he comes, which Luke mentions, referring to him as Saul from "Tarsis" (Acts 9:11; 11:25; 21:39; 22:3), a city in Cilicia, modern-day Turkey.

• His occupation, the way he made his living as he travelled extensively, was as an itinerant tentmaker.¹
• His avocation, the way he spent his time otherwise, also in his travels, was as an itinerant teacher.²

Unlike Matthew the tax collector (Matt 10:3), who probably had accounting skills.⁴ Paul's formal training was otherwise. Nevertheless, in this verse he presents for his readers' consideration, what is called today a "cost benefit analysis." The CBA, especially common in determining government spending, is a feasibility study to decide if a project is worth the investment. These studies are usually conducted before undertaking a project to ensure that valuable time and resources are not wasted. (And we know there is no such thing as government waste.) The difference here is that the findings Paul presents are after the fact, after the project has been approved and completed, which means that God, without consulting anyone else, decided how best to address the problem He saw the problem Paul identifies in...

Rom 5:12 ...through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned.

The problem God has addressed is sin and its consequence, death.

The solution God prepared, Paul presents like a balance sheet, with a column for debits on one side and a column for credits on the other side. Prior to God's solution, the outlook for us was pretty grim. We were not just broke; we were hopelessly in arrears. In the column on the debit side is "the wages of sin" which leads to "death." This is not a portfolio that would interest a potential investor. Who would want to throw good money after bad? Yet that is precisely what God did, by adding His column on the credit side. Opposite "the wages of sin" He placed "the gift of God," and opposite "death" He placed "eternal life."

What we should find especially striking is the radical difference between the opposing pairs in these two columns, because God does not just bail us out by offering us a loan until we can get back on or feet. He pays our debt outright and in full, then He infuses us with new capital so we can grow and prosper.

• In the first opposing pair of items...

• The wages are something we earn, something we work for and consider properly ours; wages are what we deserve. Unfortunately, in this case, the wages are death. To make the situation even worse, these wages are from an illicit transaction—our own sin.⁴

Opposite our wages, in the other column, is where God places...⁵

• A gift, which is something we receive, not something we work for or consider properly ours; a gift is what we do not deserve. To make the situation even better, this gift is from an impeccable source—God.

• In the second opposing pair of items...

• Death is not simply the cessation of life as we know it, "[w]hen we have shuffel'd off this mortall coile," (as Shakespeare writes). Death is the extension of our existence in a different venue and with a decidedly unpleasant agenda.

Opposite death, in the other column, is where God places...

• Eternal life, which is also not simply the continuation of our current existence, where we do the same things we do now but from a higher elevation. Eternal life is the enhancement of our existence, in a different venue and with an invariably pleasant agenda, because our situation from here has changed.

When a believer passes from this physical realm to the next, he discovers that his balance sheet has gone from running a shortage to raising a surplus.

• Instead of the wages of sin, he will receive the gift of God.
• Instead of death, he will receive eternal life.

How does God accomplish this radical improvement in our portfolio? It is certainly not our doing. Paul says it is through "Christ our Lord."

If things remained the same, if God had not altered your balance sheet by adding His column of credits to offset your column of debits...

1. Your expected payment for sin was your life.

...but with these changes, most notably Jesus' intervention...

2. Your accepted payment for sin was his life.

Our life is marked by contrast and change. Some of it, like what God accomplishes because of Jesus, is certainly welcome. But is all contrast and change welcome, and what makes it so? We certainly face a variety in the course of our sojourn here.

• There are contrasts and changes in location, as when we move from one area to another, perhaps from a not-so-nice place to a very nice place.

• Linda and I experienced that last type when we went to seminary. At first, the only place available to live was a real dump infested with fleas. Later, we moved to a wonderful apartment in new student housing—with no fleas. That was a contrast in location and a welcome change.

• There are contrasts and changes in employment, as when we switch from one job to another, or from being employed to being unemployed, or from being employed to being retired.

• V. is experiencing that last type, as he now can pursue his own interests or even take nap in the afternoon. That is a contrast in employment and a welcome change.

• There are contrasts and changes in relationships, as when we go from being single to being married, or to being single again, or when the family grows.

• A. and P. are experiencing that last type as they add a daughter to their family. That is a contrast in relationships and a welcome change.

• There are contrasts and changes in health, as we see a decline in what we could once do or as we see an improvement in what we could once do.

• L. is experiencing that last type following surgery on her wrist, which has produced greater strength and mobility than she had before. That is a contrast in health and a welcome change.

These illustrations are all contrasts and changes we welcome, because we regard them as positive, but we know others that are not positive, or do not appear so.

Should you welcome all contrast and change? ...No, because some contrast and change is, in fact, harmful. For example, Paul tells the believers at Corinth...

1 Cor 6:18a Flee from sexual immorality.

1 Cor 10:14 [and] flee from idolatry.

The apostle knows these activities stand in contrast with a commitment to God, and were the Corinthians to institute such changes, they would have a decidedly negative affect. So, Paul's counsel is to avoid them.

Are there other contrasts and changes that you might prefer to avoid because they are difficult but that you should welcome because they are, in fact, helpful?

Yes, there are contrasts and changes that may have a positive affect on you, not necessarily a pleasant affect but a positive affect. The difference is not always easy to identify. For example...

• Jesus talks about the unpleasant but positive change that mistreatment in particular can bring.⁶

Matt 5:11 Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. 12 Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

• James writes about the unpleasant but positive change that misfortune in general can bring.

Jms 1:2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. 4 Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

In both cases, it is not the experience that makes something positive but the effect it has for your character. You would certainly not regard mistreatment or misfortune as pleasant, but if it strengthens or matures you, then it is positive. Again, it is not the experience that makes something positive but the effect it has for you.

In this single verse, the apostle Paul presents a "cost benefit analysis" of what God has done through Jesus. It is The Foremost Contrast as God offsets our debit with the credit of His Son, enabling us to exchange the wages of sin with the gift of God and death with eternal life.

Having considered The Foremost Contrast, we will look next at The Foremost Contingent, which is part of the panoply of God, in Matt 13:49-50.

For the Bibliography and Endnotes, see the pdf here.

(This sermon is part of Dr. Manuel's sermon series: "What is Foremost?" Links to each of the sermons in the series will be found here as they are posted)