Romans 4:25 - Raised to life - by Ken Clezy

Christians have plenty to sing about, as we demonstrate every Sunday morning. However there are other truths for which singing is inappropriate. One of these derives from the last verse of Romans ch 4. He was given over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification. What exactly does Paul mean here?

We may find the answer by beginning with a relevant Old Testament passage. When God gave the law to Moses he said he would forgive his people’s sins if they repented, but he would punish them all the same. (Numbers 14:18.) That sounds strange to us: we usually think forgiveness should mean no punishment. Justification means Not guilty, so if we’re saved we’re not guilty. How? Paul reminds us here that sin must be paid for. So Given over for our sins has to mean that Jesus paid for them.

Think of monetary debts. If I owe you money and I can’t pay, and in your goodness you forgive the debt, I am grateful, but I don’t feel like singing about it. Similarly, my awareness of Jesus’ sacrifice on my behalf is a serious matter, not something I can sing about. That isn’t guilt, but rather a sober consciousness of the enormity of what he did for me.

God also told Moses that he would visit the sins of the parents on their children down to the third and fourth generation. Does this still apply? I think it does. Our children usually know us better than outsiders do. Many Christian families have one or more members who are not believers. For exampIe, I have a daughter who went into medical school a believer and came out an unbeliever. We saw little of her during those years, so I’m not very likely to have been responsible, but sometimes I wonder. And her children are unbelievers.

The possibility that our sins can be responsible for our children’s unbelief is a heavy burden, and a reminder, if we need it, of how terrible sin is. Let us never forget how important our example is to our children, and to others. No singing about that.