Romans 6 : 19-23

[anneramones]

Brothers and sisters:
I am speaking in human terms because of the weakness of your nature.
For just as you presented the parts of your bodies as slaves to impurity
and to lawlessness for lawlessness,
so now present them as slaves to righteousness for sanctification.
For when you were slaves of sin, you were free from righteousness.
But what profit did you get then
from the things of which you are now ashamed?
For the end of those things is death.
But now that you have been freed from sin and have become slaves of God,
the benefit that you have leads to sanctification,
and its end is eternal life.
For the wages of sin is death,
but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

As fair as I understand we don’t need to sin with our bodies ( fornication, sex before marriage, masturbation) and we will be sanctified. But… what does sanctification actually mean? To be just before God? Isn’t that justification? So what’s the difference btw sanctification and justification?
Also, why Saint Paul says that when we were slaves of sin, we were free of righteousness?
And the sin he is talking about is original sin? Aren’t we cleansed of that at baptism?

I would really appreciate some clarification about the whole passage, thank you and God bless.

 

[IanAG]

VAs far as I understand this passage, Paul is talking about the ‘metanoia’,or change of mind that comes about through conversion.

Before we made a decision to follow Christ, we were caught up in our own agenda which led to all sorts of ungodliness and sinfulness. We were walking down a path which had only one outcome…spiritual and physical death.

But since we made a decision to follow Christ, (at our first Communion), a decision which we recommit to one day, sometimes one hour at a time, we are now heading in a new direction which leads to eternal life in Christ.

To differentiate between justification and sanctification, justification is the one time event of us being brought into communion with God by the atoning sacrifice and saving Grace of Jesus Christ and our faith in that as full and final payment for our past sins.

Sanctification is the ongoing process by which we grow daily into the likeness of Christ, being stripped of all that holds us back. It continues throughout our earthly lives and prepares us for a place in the Kingdom.

Hope that helps,

Ian

 

[GLam1761]

As far as I know, we reap what we sow, so
as far as sanctification goes, we are building
on the foundation of the Apostles and prophets,
with Christ Jesus being the model of Faith. Eph. 2:20
We are also using works of the Flesh in our building,
doing things which are after the flesh, these will
be Chaff at the Harvest at the end of the age. 1 Cor. 3:12
Now, we who have knowledge of the seriousness of sin
if we are disobedient, will be punished w/ more severity
than those who are ignorant, the unbelievers.

 

[De_Maria]

@anneramones

Brothers and sisters:

Dearly beloved in Christ.

I am speaking in human terms because of the weakness of your nature.

I’m speaking in a manner you will understand.

For just as you presented the parts of your bodies as slaves to impurity

Just as you committed sexual sins

and to lawlessness for lawlessness,

And behaved in a manner against the law of God.

so now present them as slaves to righteousness for sanctification.

So, today, you need to begin to do the right things in order that you will achieve holiness.

For when you were slaves of sin, you were free from righteousness.

When you indulged your sinful pleasures, you did not have any discipline to constrain you to do the right thing.

But what profit did you get then
from the things of which you are now ashamed?

But what did you gain from doing the wrong which you now regret?

For the end of those things is death.

Because those things lead to separation from God.

But now that you have been freed from sin and have become slaves of God,

But now you have been released from wicked things and have become servants to God.

the benefit that you have leads to sanctification,

This behaviour leads to holiness.

and its end is eternal life.

And finally, to life everlasting.

For the wages of sin is death,

Because leading a sinful life will be rewarded with eternal punishment.

but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

But God grants life everlasting to those who obey His Son.

cont’d

 

[De_Maria]

cont’d

As fair as I understand we don’t need to sin with our bodies ( fornication, sex before marriage, masturbation) and we will be sanctified.

In order to be sanctified, we need to give up any and all sins. Including sexual sins you listed, but also, violent sins like murder, assault, etc. and sins like stealing, lying, etc. See the Ten Commandments for a complete list.

But… what does sanctification actually mean?

To be set aside for holy purposes. This is what happens to us, at Baptism.

To be just before God?

Yes.

Isn’t that justification?
Yes.

So what’s the difference btw sanctification and justification?

They have intersecting definitions. Basically,

Sanctification is the idea that
a. God has set us apart to become holy.
b. God has recognized that we have done holy things.

Justification is the idea
a. that God has imputed (i.e. judged) that we are obeying His laws
and thus doing righteous things.
b. that God has washed away our sins and made us righteous
creatures. This happens at Baptism.

Also, why Saint Paul says that when we were slaves of sin, we were free of righteousness?

Because sin of any kind, is not right. It is wrong, it is evil.

And the sin he is talking about is original sin?

No. Mostly, he is talking about sins we have committed. Only Adam and Eve committed the original sin.

405 Although it is proper to each individual, original sin does not have the character of a personal fault in any of Adam’s descendants. …

Aren’t we cleansed of that at baptism?

Yes.

I would really appreciate some clarification about the whole passage, thank you and God bless.

I hope that helps.

 

[anneramones]

Thank you so so much, it’s very helpful, just some quick more questions, if God makes us righteous at Baptism but than in life we sin, our righteousness goes way? ( and also we are not in state of grace anymore)

So we can say Righteousness means to obey God’s Ten Commandments and also the two other great Commandments set by Jesus.
You mentioned lying as a sin. But how is lying a sin? If a person asks me a question and I don’t want to answer because it’s personal business but I can’t say to her that I don’t want to answer and therefore I just lie and tell her something else instead of the truth, is this a sin?

 

[IanAG]

As far as I understand in infant Baptism we receive the protection of Christ, our parents and the Catholic community because as infants and children we are unable to make an informed choice to follow Christ.

At our first communion and following instruction we are deemed to be at an age when we can make a moral choice to surrender our lives to Christ and thus we are justified.

Righteousness is a separate issue. We live a holy life as we choose to follow the teachings of our Lord Jesus Christ, the rest of the Bible and the Church. These build on, but are not limited to the Ten Commandments. Jesus expects not only outward obedience but more importantly a cleansing and purification of the heart. When we sin we ‘miss the mark’ and fall from a state of grace. Repentance, confession, and reconciliation bring us back into that state.

As far as lying is concerned, it breaks the commandment ‘Thou shall not bear false witness’. This is because it brings Gods name into disrepute and offends Him as we are his representatives here on Earth.

There are many teachings against lying in the Bible, not just the Ten Commandments.

For example,

There are six things that the LORD strongly dislikes, seven that are an abomination to him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that make haste to run to evil, a false witness who breathes out lies, and one who sows discord among brothers.

— Proverbs 6:16–19

Hope that this helps.

 

[De_Maria]

Thank you so so much, it’s very helpful,

Glad to be of help.

just some quick more questions, if God makes us righteous at Baptism but than in life we sin, our righteousness goes way?

If the sin is mortal, our righteousness goes away completely.
If the sin is venial, our righteousness is damaged, but we remain in relationship with God.

( and also we are not in state of grace anymore)

Only if our sin is mortal. Which means that we committed a grave sin, intentionally.

1857 For a sin to be mortal, three conditions must together be met: “Mortal sin is sin whose object is grave matter and which is also committed with full knowledge and deliberate consent.”

So we can say Righteousness means to obey God’s Ten Commandments and also the two other great Commandments set by Jesus.

The two great Commandments set by Jesus, summarize and include the Ten Commandments.

Love God with all your heart and mind, summarizes Commandments 1, 2 and 3.
Love your neighbor as yourself, summarizes the rest.

You mentioned lying as a sin. But how is lying a sin? If a person asks me a question and I don’t want to answer because it’s personal business but I can’t say to her that I don’t want to answer and therefore I just lie and tell her something else instead of the truth, is this a sin?

Yes.

 

[anneramones]

Whelp if that is a sin I’m going to hell but what can I do not to lie? I mean in certain situations you can’t say a person hey I don’t want to answer, I don’t want to tell you. Like… if a person asks me something about another person, and I feel like this is not something I can share because it is gossiping, and I tell her “ I don’t know” , “she didn’t tell me”, isn’t here a contrast?

 

[EndTimes]

We’re called to be perfect - Just as God is… This connects with allowing our will to be in line with God’s Will… This means that as we continually Re-Pent of our withered branches during our acceptance of His Gospel - we Grow toward Holy-ness / Purity / Saint… aka Sanctification…

In a nutshell - we are called to strive to being perfect in Obeying God’s Commands to LOVE - and rid ourselves of all Sin… We accomplish this with God on our side via achieving a strong Faith in Jesus: His Teachings… His Gospel…

Rather than think, “Impossible!”… rather - realize

• the narrow road is indeed a great - in fact only - road to walk on…

Try it. You’ll like it…