Eschatology 101

Eschatology 101

T. Justin Comer

Introduction

I. Summary of theocracy

-The main theme of the Bible

-A clash between darkness and light

-Who will rule over this cosmos?

-A coming kingdom

-Eschatology explains how and why God is now able to dwell on earth.

II. Nation state versus Redeemed Israel

The current state of Israel is not the redeemed Israel spoken of in prophecy. Instead, it is the Israel that is under God’s judgment, and they will continue to be until that final restoration unto glory.

-Israel’s final redemption comes with world peace

            +Isaiah 35:10, Joel 2:19,

-Israel’s final redemption means they believe in the Lord their God

            +Isaiah 10:20, 48:8-11, 52:6, Jeremiah 31:1, Ezekiel 34:30-31, Hosea 2:7, Zechariah 8:8,

-Israel’s final redemption happens at Christ’s return

            +Genesis 49:10, Isaiah 16:4-5, 33:17-18, Ezekiel 34:23-24, Hosea 3:4-5, Zechariah 9:16,

-Ezekiel 22:19-22

            +Current Israel is fulfillment of prophecy, but not promise.

            +Isaiah 11:11, 63:18,

III. Summary of Principalities and Powers

-One government/influence over all nations

            +Genesis 11, Revelation 13:3, Luke 4:5-7, Daniel 10:13,

-Antichrist Kingdom

            +Daniel 2, Revelation 17:9-11, Daniel 7:1-5, Revelation 13:1-2, Isaiah 14:12-14, Ezekiel 28:11-19, Zechariah 1:19, Revelation 17-19, Genesis 11:2, Psalm 109:16-20,

-Defeat only by God’s wisdom

            +Cross

                        -1 Corinthians 18-2:8, Psalm 82:5,

            +Ephesians 3:10

                        -Revelation 12:11, Deuteronomy 32:21,

IV. Israel’s purpose

-Covenant

            +The covenant is an eternal covenant. The eternal covenant is not necessarily with Israel, but with all of God’s elect. God has chosen a specific people for Him to put His name upon, and all other nations must come unto them in order to worship the Lord. The covenant unfolds throughout the Scripture gaining more and more detail, until finally it culminates in the man Christ Jesus – the true Israel and firstfruit from the dead.

            +Genesis 9:25-27, 12:2-3, 15:1-21, 22:18, 25:23, 26:4, 28:14, 35:11, 48:19, Deuteronomy 4:1, 5:3, 6:25, 10:12-13, 11:26-28, 16:19-20, 26:17-18, 29:9, Joshua 1:5, 2:9, Psalm 105:8, Romans 11:28-29,

-Center of nations

            +God has chosen a specific place (Zion) for His rule. Israel will be heralded as the center of all nations when Christ sets up His literal Kingdom and rule on the earth.

            +Ezekiel 5:5, Deuteronomy 28:1, 28:13, 32:8-9,

-God’s nation among nations

            +The purpose for Israel is this very thing: it is God’s nation among all nations. That has a couple implications: priesthood, theocracy, display of God’s character, and His witness unto the four corners of the earth.

            +Deuteronomy 4:34, Zechariah 8:6, Deuteronomy 7:6, Isaiah 51:4a,

V. Tribulation

-Seven years

            +Daniel 9:27,

            +The number 7 is vitally important to the Scriptures. There were 7 days of creation; some of the rabbis have speculated the world is on a 7000 yearlong clock, the last 1000 years being the reign of Messiah. Joshua marched around Jericho for 7 days, 7 times on the seventh day. When you offer a sin offering, you pour out the blood 7 times upon the altar. The number 7 speaks of perfection, not merely completion. For the age to end with a 7 year Tribulation seems perfectly legitimate and absolutely patterned.

-Final judgment

            +There are a lot more Scriptures than I put here. Ultimately, the proof is in the pudding, and the pudding needed to be displayed to other places before it became repetitive. To answer the question of how we know that this is the final judgment and that there is no more judgment after this, we simply need to ask “why?” Why is God sending the Tribulation? It is to redeem a people that have rejected Him, and to establish His literal Kingdom upon this earth. If His people are no longer disobedient, and the world is in peace, then why would there need to be another judgment upon the earth? The Judgment Seat comes after the 1000-year reign of Christ, after certain peoples and nations gather again against Jerusalem led by Satan Himself (Revelation 20:7 and onward)

            +Isaiah 51:11, Daniel 9:24-27,

-Christ returns at end

            +Daniel 9:24 (with respect to Ezekiel 45:17), Ezekiel 34:23-24, Daniel 2:34,

VI. Beginning of Seven Years (first 3 ½ years)

-Covenant/treaty made

            +This is one of the most powerful, yet subtle, understandings. There simply are not very many Scriptures to indicate a covenant or treaty to be made. The point isn’t the treaty made with the Antichrist, but instead is that Israel trusts in the arm of the flesh. Instead of trusting in their God, they look to “Egypt” to protect them.

            +Deuteronomy 23:6, Isaiah 28:15, 30:1, Daniel 9:27,

-Peace and Security

            +Isaiah 30:2-5 (note in Bible: If Egypt’s help is Israel’s shame and disgrace, how much more the Antichrist’s?), Jeremiah 6:14, Daniel 8:25 (when they feel secure),

            +I think that the best thing to note is that Jesus tells us to watch; Paul and Peter also both talk about the Day of the Lord coming like a thief. To those that are not watching, they will be taken by surprise. Why? For those that are the people of God, they will not expect sudden calamity. Those that are not of the Lord will not find anything strange or ‘unnatural’ signs to clue them in.

-Trusting in man/arm of the flesh

            +Isaiah 31:1, 31:3, 57:11-13, Jeremiah 17:5-8,

-Temple and Sacrifices

            +What does God think about the sacrifices that Israel will be offering during the first 3 ½ years of the Tribulation?

            +Deuteronomy 32:17, Psalm 40:6, 51:16-17, Isaiah 1:11, 66:3-4, Daniel 8:11 (there must be a third temple for them to be brought low), Amos 5:22,

VII. Middle of Seven Years (somewhere around 1,260-1,290 days before Jesus’ return)

-Covenant broken

            +Isaiah 24:5, Daniel 9:27, Isaiah 28:18, 33:8, Daniel 11:30-32, 12:7,

-Antichrist

            +King of the North

                        -Not so much about specific verses that say the King of the North is the Antichrist, but that the King of the North is typically always the one to come against Israel and Jerusalem

                        -Jeremiah 1:13b-14, 6:1, 6:22, 10:22, 13:20, Ezekiel 26:7, Daniel 11:28,

            ++Isaiah 19:4, Daniel 7:8, Jeremiah 48:25, Daniel 7:24-25, 8:23-25, 11:21, Micah 5-6, Jeremiah 51:25 & Zechariah 4:7, Matthew 4:8 (in reference to Revelation 13:2), Matthew 24:24, Luke 19:43-44, 2 Thessalonians 2:4, Revelation 13:1-8 (Isaiah 27:1 mentions the piercing of the Leviathan, a type of antichrist {beast from the sea}),

-Abomination of Desolation

            +Psalm 74:7-8, 79:1, Jeremiah 7:30, 51:51, Daniel 9:27, 11:31, Matthew 24:15, Ezekiel 7:24b, 8:3, Daniel 8:11, 9:26-27, Matthew 24:15, Luke 21:20, Revelation 13:14-15,

VIII. Jacob’s Trouble

-Jeremiah 30:7

            +No time worse

                        -Daniel 12:1, Deuteronomy 28:53, 28:62-63, 29:22-28, Psalm 9:13-14, 42:3, 44:9-11, 83:4, 88:13-18, 102:1-11, Isaiah 1:25, 3:18-26, 7:17, 13:12, 24:6, Jeremiah 9:25-26, Ezekiel 5:12, 7:25-26, Joel 1:2-3, Matthew 24:21, Luke 21:22-24,

-Antichrist Wars with the Saints

            +Daniel 7:21, 7:25, Revelation 13:7, Psalm 79:2, Daniel 8:10, 11:33-35, Luke 21:16-17,

-Israel’s flight

            +Amos 9: , Deuteronomy 4:26-27-31, Jeremiah 31:31-37, Deuteronomy 8:2-3, 28:20, 28:25, 32:26-27, Isaiah 5:13, 6:13, 22:1-3, 48:21, 59:9-13, Jeremiah 12:4, Ezekiel 6:8, 20:33-35, 34: 4-6, 36:19-20, Amos 5:18, 9:1-4, Zechariah 2:6, 14:2, Matthew 12:30, Luke 22:31-32, Revelation 12:6,

-Strength and Power of Israel Broken

            +The strength and power of Israel is their pride. God must break it off of them if the strength and pride of all other nations is to be broken off as well.

            +Deuteronomy 32:36, Psalm 102:23, Isaiah 2:17-18, 3:22, 22:8-11, 23:9, Ezekiel 7:24a, Daniel 12:7, Leviticus 26:19, Zechariah 13:8-9, Luke 21:31,

-Refuge in wilderness

            +Ezekiel 20:33-35, Genesis 32:30, Isaiah 28:11, Jeremiah 5:18, 31:2, Amos 9:8-10, Zechariah 10:9, Matthew 24:45 (in reference to Revelation 12:6), Revelation 12:6, 12:13-14,

-Our witness to the Jews/wrestle principalities

            +Daniel 11:35-40, Psalm 14:7, Romans 11:25-26, Psalm 53:6, Isaiah 14:32, 40:9-11, 58:1, Jeremiah 49:12, Matthew 10:1, 17:20-21, 25:14-30 (parable of the talents – the talents are the Jewish people coming into our hands, according to context of Matthew 24:45-46), Matthew 25:40, Luke 21:14-15, 1 Corinthians 1:26-31, 2:6-8, Ephesians 3:10-11, Revelation 12:11, 12:17,

IX. Restoration

-Gog and Magog/Antichrist war

            +Revelation 19: , Ezekiel 38-39, Zech 12, 14, Psalm 33:10-11, 48:4-7, 74:13-14, 75:8, Isaiah 8:9-10, Isaiah 13:4, 18:6 (Revelation 19:17-18, Ezekiel 39:4), Isaiah 27:1 (Revelation 19:12-21), Isaiah 29:3 (Luke 21:20), Isaiah 29:5-8, 31:4, 31:8, Jeremiah 7:33, Joel 2:20, 3:1-3, Zechariah 12:3, 12:9, Matthew 24:28 (in reference to Revelation 19:17-18), 2 Thessalonians 2:8, Revelation 14:14-20, 19:11-21,

-Return of Christ/Establishment of the Branch

            +Deuteronomy 18:15, Psalm 2:6-9, 80:15-17, Isaiah 4:2-6, 9:6-7, 11:4, Zech 12:10, Isaiah 31:6, 41:2, 42:1-4, 66:18, Ezekiel 34:22-24, 37:23-24, Daniel 7:13-14, Amos 9:11, Zechariah 3:8-9, 6:13, Malachi 3:1-4, Matthew 24:27, Luke 1:32-33, Luke 21:27, 1 Thessalonians 3:13, Revelation 11:15,

-Judgment of Nations

            +Joel 3:1-3, Obadiah 15, Micah 4:3, Matthew 13:41-42, Revelation 11:18,

-Gathered from Nations

            +Psalm 107:2-3, 111:9, Isaiah 11:12, 14:1, 35:10, 43:5-7, 54:6-7, Jeremiah 3:18, 12:15-17, 30:8-9, 31:8, 32:37-40, Ezekiel 11:16-17, 20:41-43, 28:25-26, 34:13-16, 36:24-30, 39:25, Zechariah 10:10, Matthew 8:11-12, 24:31,

-Full Redemption

            +Romans 11:26, Isaiah 27:9, Deuteronomy 12:2-3, 30:1-6, Psalm 50:15, 66:12, Isaiah 12:3 (John 7:37-38), Isaiah 30:19-22, 32:15, 45:17, Jeremiah 31:31-37, 32:8, Ezekiel 11:18-21, Obadiah 17, Zephaniah 3:11-13, Zechariah 9:11-12 (in reference to Matthew 26:28 as the Covenant), Zechariah 12:10-13:2, Ephesians 1:14,

-In One Day

            +Isaiah 10:17, 10:20-23, 66:8-9, Ezekiel 36:33-36 (on the day), Zechariah 3:9, 9:16,

-Principalities and Powers Defeated

            +Revelation 20:1-5, Isaiah 24:21-22, Psalm 2, Ezekiel 28:17, Matthew 8:29,

-Veil that Covers Nations

            +The veil that covers the nations is their pride. It is ultimately put there by demons. The Church must wrestle those demonic powers to overcome them and break off the veil that blinds Israel, so that at Israel’s redemption the veil will be broken off of the nations.

            +Isaiah 25:7, 54:3 (Genesis 9:27), Ezekiel 28:25, 35:23, 36:36, Daniel 7:11-12,

-Jesus Rules from Jerusalem and Zion

            +Isaiah 2, Zechariah 14:16, Deuteronomy 11:12, 15:6, Psalm 48:1-3, 50:2, 65:1-3, 99:1-2, 102:21-22, 110:1-2, Isaiah 24:23, Jeremiah 31:5, Joel 2:32, Micah 4:1-2, Zechariah 8:1-3,

-Jeremiah 23:7-8

            +Deuteronomy 7:14, Psalm 37:9-11, Isaiah 31:5, 16:14-15, Jeremiah 16:14-15,

X. 1000 year reign

-World peace

            +Isaiah 2:4, 60:17b, Daniel 7:21-22, Joel 3:10 (in reference to Isaiah 2:4)?, Joel 3:17, Micah 4:3, Zechariah 9:10, 14:11,

-Israel as Priests

            +Genesis 33:10, Deuteronomy 18:2, Exodus 19:6, Deuteronomy 4:6, 17:8-13, Joshua 4:24, Psalm 18:43, Isaiah 12:4, 14:2b, 55:5, 60:1-3, 60:12, Ezekiel 37:26-28, Zechariah 3:4 (Joshua being a symbol of priestly Israel), Zechariah 8:13, 8:23,

-Redemption of Nations

            +Deuteronomy 32:43, Psalm 9:20, 22:27-28, 47:7-8, 79:10, Isaiah 52:15, Psalm 86:9, 94:10, 96:7-9, 98:2-3, Isaiah 2:2-3, 10:13-14, 18:7, 26:9b, 45:22-24, 51:4-5, 56:4-8, Ezekiel 37:28, Daniel 7:14, 7:27, Amos 9:12, Zechariah 2:11, 8:20-22, 14:16, Malachi 1:11, 1:14, Romans 11:11-15,

-Church as Spiritual Rulers

            +Isaiah 32:1, Jeremiah 23:4, Daniel 7:18, Zechariah 14:5b, John 1:51 (with reference to Zechariah 3:8-10 & Genesis 28:12), Romans 8:18-21,

-First Resurrection

            +Revelation 20:4-6, Psalm 17:15, Daniel 12:13, 1 Corinthians 15:23, 15:42-44, 15:50-53, Philippians 3:10-11, 3:20-21, 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17, Revelation 20:4-6,

A Summary of Theocracy

It was over the weekend that I hosted a few friends. Within our discussion, we examined a multitude of things. One of the subjects that came up was Israel and the last days. I think that this topic comes up frequently when I have opportunity to talk, because it is probably one of the biggest aspects of my theology. However, As I mused upon it, I realized that it wasn't about Israel and eschatology that is really a big part of my theology, it is the Kingdom of God.

The one topic that it seems as though the entire Bible is devoted to is this subject. God's Kingdom and rule upon this earth is the focal point. It was set up in the beginning that God would rule as God by having fellowship with mankind and teaching us to be priests unto the very creation itself. We were created in His likeness to display Him unto all things - including the angelic beings.

With the fall of mankind, the kingdom of darkness was thus expressed. It had taken captive humanity. It had somehow become the authority over this fallen world, and if it can keep that authority, then it can attempt to overcome the kingdom of light. We have this saga at the heart of the Bible. Everything is a progression forward. Mankind falls, thus sin enters the world. God's promise is that He will one day punish that serpent and rid the world of that sin. We find that as the Bible progresses, the sinfulness of humanity increased. God sent a flood, and only saved 8 people.

Out of those 8 people came all nations of this earth. Some came from Ham, some from Shem, and some from Japheth. Each of these names have different significance, and we can see in the various cultures throughout the world these different names represented. We find in Genesis 10 the "table of nations." That description of where the nations come from and where they settled is referred to throughout the Bible. It is in the next chapter that we find all nations coming together to establish a one-world government system. What was their hopes in doing so? They wanted to make a tower that would ascend up to heaven.

Where does such a thought come from? If we think that mankind in their sinful state would promote such an idea, we have deceived ourselves. There is an entire kingdom behind the scenes. It promotes selfishness and exultation. The rule of this kingdom of darkness is self. For them to build a tower that would rival the heavens is a statement of deifying humanity. And this deification of humanity is not from depravity, but ultimately from the pit of hell. Satan has influenced and manipulated the whole thing. He has sway over any kind of institution, and that sway is what caused for humanity to have such antichrist thoughts.

The question that the Bible promotes is this: who will rule over this cosmos? Will God rule, or will Satan rule? It is the plan of the devil to manipulate mankind for his own devices. We are merely tools being jerked and forced into establishing his kingdom. There is no remedy from this outside of Christ. But God confused the languages of these nations, and in so doing foiled the plans of the enemy.

Now, thousands of years later, we're back at the same scenario. We have mankind coming together and striving to promote a one-world government that will somehow rival the heavens. It is the same plan that was used at the beginning. And what was God's answer to that plan at the beginning? God's answer was a man named Abram. God called Abram out of the nations to become a nation. While Satan has his own kingdom at work in the world, God has established a kingdom as well. We trace through the Bible this man Abram to the nation Israel. We find prophecies concerning that people at a specific point in time where God Himself will come to earth and rule over them, thus defeating the kingdom of darkness and promoting everlasting righteousness.

Though I agree with the theology that teaches of "the Kingdom of God within you," at least to a degree, this mentality has actually caused us to forsake the understanding of our fathers. Because we are under the impression that God's Kingdom is already established invisibly on the earth, we are not seeking for a future time that God will rule and reign. He has established very specific places where He has chosen for His government. If we do not know, or do not examine, such claims made by God, then can we truly say that we are seeking first His Kingdom?

Many times it is that we simply don't know. This isn't a question about salvation or even somehow being eternally secure. The question that I promote is whether we are truly living in a way that would expect and fully believe that there is a time coming - and soon coming - that God will rule and reign, and He will call on His people to rule and reign with Him?

This is important because the whole of the Bible, from Genesis through Revelation, seeks to establish the answer to one question: How and why is God now able to dwell on the earth? God walked with Adam in the Garden, but there was no sin. How is it that God will somehow come down and manifest Himself on this earth with sin still present? The answer, of course, is found in the man Jesus Christ. But we mustn't stop there. Yes, He came 2000 years ago, but there are still prophecies and promises that have been stated to happen that are yet to come to fruition.

The problem of eschatology (the study of the end) is to seek an understanding of how God can come, Israel can be redeemed, the Church can be united with Israel under the same Head, and we can rule and reign from Jerusalem together. That is the question at hand when studying the Kingdom of God. We know that God will rule over this earth, but how? What must take place for His Government to be established? What must happen for the cosmos to be able to embrace His coming?

In a few days, I will be joining some brethren to discuss such a topic as this. Pray for me, and pray for us all, that we might be given the understanding that God has decreed from the beginning.

The Book of Romans pt 12

21 But now apart from the law the righteousness of God has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. 22 This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. 25 God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood—to be received by faith. He did this to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished— 26 he did it to demonstrate his righteousness at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.


I have heard people say that this passage is possibly the most important passage of all Scripture. I happen to disagree, but not because I think there are other more important passages. I believe that unless we have the context of the whole Bible story, this passage doesn't make sense. The freedom we have in Christ isn't an issue that we find strictly in the New Testament. From the very beginning God stirred the creation into more and more manifestation of order and light.

It is from the foundations of the Earth that we find a God who is not content to simply speak over the creation in order to bring it into fullness. He gets down into the nitty-gritty. He isn't satisfied with being afar off; God comes into the darkness and chaos. So it is in the sinner. God isn't content to speak over the sinful heart, "Be clean." God comes into that unclean heart to purify and to make new. Jesus had a similar experience with a leper. The leper approached our Lord and said, "You can heal me if you are willing..." Jesus wasn't going to allow that mentality to last another minute. He didn't only say, "I am willing." Jesus actually reached out His hand and touched the unclean thing.

The Gospel isn't so much about the cross and resurrection as it is what these things symbolize. The Gospel is the proclamation of a God who came into His creation to rescue it from the darkness and death that binds it. The cross and resurrection are the medium by which God brings deliverance. It is not a one time moment in history, but an epoch of all God's moments in history. This is the crux of God's character. He has always been one who suffers for the betterment of His creation. It is not sufficient to say that God died upon the cross and that is it. He is the Lamb slain from the foundations of the Earth, and indeed God's character is and always has been to live in the reality of the cross and resurrection with His people.

It is by this that we are justified freely by grace. It is all about the blood of Jesus, and it is not limited to the one time event. Jesus' blood is eternal. From the beginning, all the saints have pleaded upon the mercy of God. God could only have justified them by the blood of Christ that had not yet come. It was through their faith in the character of God that saved them. Jesus hadn't died for forgiveness to come to David after he sinned. How can God forgive him?

So please understand that I don't mean to diminish the cross and it's importance. On quite the contrary, I'm trying to establish the importance. It is in the context of understanding that God is and always has been the Lamb slain before the foundations of the world that we can fully embrace the cross of Jesus and plead His blood for the redemption and remission of sins. God's plan of salvation has been established from the very first.

I think this is why Jesus rebuked the two saints on the road  to Emmaus. It has always been the character and pattern of God to suffer before the glory. The cross was laid out in the prophets, but also in the stories of the Torah and historical books. It has always been God's character to embrace suffering and not reject it. God isn't a coward to flee from suffering. He embraces it.

And so we can approach the cross of calvary as an event that effects all of history because it is a culmination of all of God's events in history. Every time God interacts with humanity is a cross and resurrection. His character is displayed through every word, action, reaction, judgment, and mercy.

Thus we conclude that it is upon that cross that God was able to be both just and the justifier of the wicked. But why is this a problem?

How can God forgive the wicked and appease justice?

Those who break the law demand the punishment required. This is the set up for the next few chapters. We'll dive into further detail, but for now let us consider a general overview to chew on.

When we ask God to forgive us of sin, we are asking that He would break the law. The law demands punishment. How can God both exact punishment and give grace to the repentant heart? God took upon Himself that punishment of death. He took upon Himself the full wrath and punishment that deserved to go to we that call upon Christ Jesus' name. It is by grace that we have salvation, and of works lest any man should boast.

But the requirement of repentance is not simply a prayer of forgiveness. Repentance requires that we have a change in mindset and heart. It takes a death. Jesus is our sacrifice of atonement, but the wages of sin is still death. There must be a death in the believer in order for there to be freedom from sin. Anyone who has tasted of death and come out victorious by the same power that raised Jesus from the dead is now free from sin (examine Romans 6). Christ is our atonement, and we willingly go to death with Him that we might also be raised with Him to life eternal.

This is how God is able to be both just and the justifier of the wicked. All wickedness is put to death so that resurrection life might come to wholeness within the believer. Little wonder, then, as to why the next statement out of Paul is about the Law and how there is no boasting:

27 Where, then, is boasting? It is excluded. Because of what law? The law that requires works? No, because of the law that requires faith. 28 For we maintain that a person is justified by faith apart from the works of the law.29 Or is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles too? Yes, of Gentiles too, 30 since there is only one God, who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through that same faith. 31 Do we, then, nullify the law by this faith? Not at all! Rather, we uphold the law.

We are freed from the Law in the same sense that the married man is free from the law that tells us to remain obstinate. While I were single, it would be sin for me to have sexual intercourse. But now that I am married, this no longer applies. It is still sin, however, to commit adultery. So the Law hasn't been abolished, but has been transformed. It is all the more imperative now that we have been made new. Law hasn't been nullified nor made an object of ridicule. Law is now inescapable - for the law has been written on our hearts by the Holy Spirit.

So then we conclude that all who are free from Law are free from death and sin. There can be no death nor sin where there is no Law. But this statement doesn't mean that we no longer have to hold up to a moral standard as some in the hypergrace movement have claimed. Should we continue in sin now that we are free from it? No - if you have died to sin, then how can you live in it any longer? Our very conduct has changed to that of us no longer desiring sin. If we no longer desire to perform wickedness, then why bind ourselves to unnatural habits?

As we continue through Romans, we'll continue to deepen this mentality of freedom and faith and how to walk it out. And we'll also start to look at some practical implications this has as we get into some of the later chapters in Romans.